For many people, weekends are the primary time when they’re able to kick back and enjoy their favorite games. That makes the timing for PSN’s massive network outage particularly rough. It began shortly after 7 PM EST on Friday, February 7th and has continued several hours into Saturday, with no end in sight. As the hours tick by without comment from Sony, many fans are increasingly concerned this will be a repeat of the 2011 outage, which lasted for several weeks. No one wants to repeat that experience, but there was one aspect of it all that some players hope to see return – compensation.
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Although initial restorations of some elements, like the PS app and the ability to view the PlayStation storefront looked promising, gamers are increasingly likely to lose out on a whole weekend of gaming. Many are furious that Sony hasn’t made any additional statements since just over an hour into the outage. Without any guidance on what’s caused the outage or when the PlayStation Network might return, gamers are left looking for other ways to spend their Saturdays. Some are even making vows to switch to another console. Indeed, the PlayStation subreddit is an interesting place to be, as gamers complain, post memes, and share cat photos to pass the time without access to multiplayer games or anything that requires a login to verify.
For some, there’s just one silver lining left – a potential to get free games out of the ordeal. Those who were around for the PSN outage of 2011 are looking back with horror on the weeks without access to their favorite games. But much as they haven’t forgotten how long an outage can last, they also haven’t failed to remember what Sony did next. When the company finally restored PSN access, they doled out compensation to players. As this February 2025 PSN outage stretches out to be one of the longest in recent memory, many fans hope – and even demand – a similar response from Sony.
Will Sony Give Out Free Games When the PSN is Finally Restored?
As the Redditor above suggests, those with a penchant towards seeking out silver linings want to get some free games out of this ordeal. It’s important to note that, jokes aside, this outcome is pretty unlikely. In 2011, PlayStation offered free games due to the unusual circumstances of the outage.
For starters, the network was down for around 21 days. As long as nearly a full day without Marvel Rivals feels, we’re nowhere near that scale yet. The 2011 outage was also the result of a massive cyberattack that compromised customer data. Being part of a data breach in 2025 feels as inevitable as Thanos in Infinity War, but in 2011, it was still pretty rare. Sony likely felt, given the extremity of the situation, that they needed to do something pretty big to keep their customer base. Giving players free games as an apology likely felt like a necessary step to salvage business.
As for this time around, the games industry is in a different space, and Sony has seen several PSN outages that didn’t rise to the level of compensation. It’s not impossible that, when they do decide to make a new statement about the PSN outage, it will include something to entice people to remain on the PlayStation ship. So while some fans are cheerfully making their demands for a free Baldur’s Gate 3, most suspect a small gift card or digital item at best.
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Jokes aside, some PlayStation fans are genuinely outraged. After all, they’re paying customers, and they can’t access many of their digital titles or use the PlayStation Plus perks they subscribe for. For many, a free game is the least Sony can do. As one player puts it, “at this point, it’s expected. This length of time is inexcusable in 2025.” With some threatening to switch to Xbox and ditch Sony forever, it’ll likely take more than one free game to restore some players’ faith in PlayStation. For now, Sony continues to remain quiet on the outage, with no promises of compensation or even a fix in sight.
Do you think Sony will offer any kind of compensation for the PSN outage once service returns? Let us know in the comments!
