Sony Suspends PlayStation Store in Mainland China to Upgrade Security

The popular tech company Sony has suspended its PlayStation Store in mainland China with the purpose of improving the PS store’s security. This move will temporarily restrict it from selling games in the largest video game market of the world.

PlayStation China declared the closure in an announcement on its Weibo account, saying it was for a “system security upgrade” without presenting further details. The authorities also did not specify any reopening date. However, the closure appears on the heels of reports on social media that mainland PS users were able to switch to overseas services by the help of a backdoor and bypass China’s restrictions to download unlicensed games.

Sony Suspends PlayStation Store in Mainland China to Upgrade Security

Sony refused to comment on whether these reports had played any role in the closure and said the purpose of the brief shutdown was to improve the safety of the store’s services. During the start of this month, a social media user on Weibo named as “senliyingsi” told that he had reported the backdoor to related authorities in a post that was later massively criticised and posted by thousands of Chinese game lovers.

A Reuters search found some vendors were attempting to break the restrictions on PS Store in China for a fee of less than $5 on the e-commerce platforms.  Firms, both foreign and domestic, need to acquire a license from the content regulator before starting any game in the country. China has for years sulked on console game because of the concerns that violent games could pose a detrimental effect on the mental health of youngsters.

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In order to comply with it, major console game makers Nintendo and Sony set up mainland China online stores for approved games since they joined the market in 2015 and 2019 respectively.