In some crazy fantasy world, the PlayStation Network breach could carry a $US24 million price tag. In the real world, inhabited by real game developers, the price tag is lower, but that doesn’t mean its impact is diminished.
One UK game studio tells website Develop that the PSN shutdown left the dev with “absolutely no revenues” for a week. The concern is what happens when the PSN does finally go back online.
“What we’re concerned about is how many people are going to come back after the PlayStation Network comes back online,” the developer, who asked to remain anonymous, said.
“There may be a lot of people who won’t want to spend their money through PlayStation Network now. We’re expecting a 5-10 per cent drop in business.”
According to Sony, the entire credit card database was encrypted, and there’s no evidence it was compromised. Today, Sony said it is “initiating several measures that will significantly enhance all aspects of PlayStation Network’s security and your personal data, including moving our network infrastructure and data centre to a new, more secure location, which is already underway.”
The studio Develop spoke with wants Sony to cut its royalties for a period after the PSN gets back on its feet. “This will likely be a two-week period where we literally have no money coming in,” said the developer. “Zero revenues over a two-week period is definitely an issue for us.” The studio has apparently lost thousands.
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