PS4 News: Console Launches in Europe, Release Date Traffic Collapses PlayStation Network

The PlayStation 4 is now available in European countries, but the console is suffering somewhat after launch due to the high number of users trying to access the PlayStation Network in that region.

Sony announced through their official PlayStation Europe Twitter account that users are having difficulty logging into the PlayStation Network and that the company is looking into the matter:

"We are aware some users are experiencing issues logging into PSN on PS4 due to the heavy traffic we are receiving, we're investigating."

What is interesting is that, before the console's launch Sony had disabled the What's new and Contact Information options for the European PlayStation Network, but the company is still facing complaints from users who cannot take their console online. In addition, the company announced to Gamespot that they have disabled the redeem vouchers feature on the PlayStation network in an attempt to further reduce traffic on the service:

"To minimise the inconvenience we have suspended the 'redeem voucher' functionality whilst we investigate further. Unfortunately this means that money cards, product vouchers, PlayStation Plus vouchers, PS3-PS4 upgrade vouchers and any other vouchers for digital content are not redeemable at this stage...Other PSN features such as log-in, online multi-player gaming, PlayStation Plus trial, PS Store (excluding voucher redemption), trophies, messages, friends etc. are all available."

One potential source of the servers being overrun is the day one update that PlayStation 4 users are encouraged to download. This 308MB update brings the firmware for the console to version 1.51, and was also part of the day one update for the North American launch of the console. If the new PlayStation 4 owners are all trying to set up their consoles at once then they may be putting too much strain on the network. Sony is offering users the chance to download the update from Sony's website and put it on a USB drive.

Sony has not announced when the disabled features will become available again, but considering the fact that the console has only been available for a limited time in the continent it is too soon to expect Sony to begin bringing back features while so many are still setting up the console. There is also no word if European PlayStation 4 owners are dealing with hardware issues such as the Blue Line of Death that were widely reported during the North American launch of the console.