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Since Sony’s PlayStation Network went down in China on May 10, it has not been clarified what specific “security updates” are being applied to the service.
And while outages like this may help keep the service and its users protected from potential security threats, there is some speculation that this is a move by the Chinese government.
Daniel Ahmad, senior analyst at Niko Partners, a market research and consulting firm focused on the Asian gaming market, notes that security updates generally mean there is a deeper reason behind the disruption.
The first possible reason could be that several people reported official PlayStation channels to authorities based on backdoor access to PSN servers abroad, which users can use to download unapproved games. Sony may have a license to officially sell PS4 consoles in China, but the PSN is heavily regulated and only approved and licensed games can be released, of which there are 130.
Ahmad adds that this is being taken seriously because a Weibo user They claimed they reported it before the teardown, and if true, Sony may have to remove all access to the backdoor server to get approval to resume service in China. There will still be solutions available, such as buying imported PS4 consoles that don’t have those restrictions, which is something that many users already do.
Next on the list would be the service that is currently not available for security updates, which will help to comply with the new Chinese gambling laws that will take effect soon.
Related: China To Ban International Online Games And Limit Global Services
This includes requiring all players participating in online games to use their real names instead of username or other alternative titles, even if the online infrastructure of a game is minimal or optional (as in Dark Souls, for example ). This will accompany limiting the amount of time minors can spend playing games of any kind: 90 minutes on normal days and three hours on legal holidays and other anti-addiction changes that are being implemented.
The official statement around the online changes said the Chinese government would start testing items online starting in May, so this could be only the service providers that are verified first.
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