Today Sony issued an official statement on its blog stating that an ‘external intrusion’ led to shutting down PSN services on Wednesday evening. An investigation of the breach is ongoing, with corporate communications director Patrick Seybold promising more updates as additional information comes in. Here’s the statement in full:

An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services on the evening of Wednesday, April 20th. Providing quality entertainment services to our customers and partners is our utmost priority. We are doing all we can to resolve this situation quickly, and we once again thank you for your patience. We will continue to update you promptly as we have additional information to share.

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