The Great 2011 PSN Outage Megathread *Post 1 updated*

While we are investigating the cause of the Network outage, we wanted to alert you that it may be a full day or two before we’re able to get the service completely back up and running. Thank you very much for your patience while we work to resolve this matter. Please stay tuned to this space for more details, and we’ll update you again as soon as we can.

What started as a sporadic outage last night has turned into a full-blown crash. Sony has confirmed PlayStation Network is down across the U.S. and Europe, and the company is currently investigating if the outage is being caused by an outside party.

Posting on the U.S. PlayStation Blog last night, Communications Director Patrick Seybold wrote that Sony was aware "certain functions" of PSN were down. Those certain functions are still down, and now the rest of the PlayStation 3's online network is as well.

"As you are no doubt aware, the current emergency outage is continuing this afternoon and all Sony Online Network services remain unavailable," Sony Computer Entertainment Europe PS blog manager James Gallagher posted today. "Our support teams are investigating the cause of the problem, including the possibility of targeted behavior by an outside party. If the reported Network problems are indeed caused by such acts, we would like to once again thank our customers who have borne the brunt of the attack through interrupted service."

Hacker activist group Anonymous appeared to pull back from its war on Sony after a protest it organized at Sony Stores around the world over the weekend fizzled. However, the group previously promised its biggest attack yet was still to come, and many immediately linked today's outage to Anon. However, writing on the Operation Sony Facebook page, Anonymous made it clear it is not behind the attack:

"ATTENTION: For everyone coming here complaining about the PSN or inquiring about it,

We Do Not Know What Happened

This is not the work of Anonymous."

Sony said its engineers are continuing to work to resolve the problems and updates will be provided throughout the day on PlayStation.com, the PlayStation blog, and the PlayStation twitter feed. Most recently, Seybold posted on the PlayStation blog at 12:30 p.m. EST (17.30 BST) that it "may be a full day or two before we're able to get the service completely back up and running."