On March 23, 2022, Sony announced firmware updates would bring the PS4 up to 9.50 and PS5 up to 22.01-05. Shortly after, the PSN went down. The PlayStation Network official status page noted that while account management, PlayStation Direct, and PlayStation Video are working as expected, everything else isn’t.
This means that things related to actual PS4 and PS5 console activities are out of commission while the PSN is down. Both system owners and the official site reported issues with playing games online and streaming are happening on not only the PS4 and PS5, but PS3 and Vita. This also means Sony’s official PlayStation Now service is affected. It isn’t possible to properly use the PlayStation Store as well.
There is also an issue people are reporting on the PS4 and PS5 subreddits that could be related to either the fact that the PSN is down or the new firmware updates. PlayStation Plus subscribers are noting that the systems aren’t showing or recognizing their active subscriptions.
The March 2022 PS4 and PS5 firmware update offered a few changes. For example, on both systems and the app you can join open and closed consoles. The PS5 one is also paving the way for voice commands and variable refresh rates.
