Sony says that too many people logging in at once to their PSN accounts has caused the network to crash.

Sony Respond to PSN Outage affecting PS4 users
Sony has responded to the PlayStation Network Outage affecting some PS4 users. (Reuters)

Following reports of hundreds of PlayStation 4 users in the UK and across Europe being unable to access their PlayStation Network accounts after the console launched on Friday, Sony has responded to say the issue is related to too many people logging on at once.

The official PlayStation Europe Twitter account said:

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

The PlayStation 4 went on sale at midnight in the UK on Friday, however hundreds of new owners complained on social networks about being unable to log into their PlayStation Network (PSN) accounts meaning they cannot download and implement a crucial software update.

The firmware adds a number of major day one updates, including adding the ability to play multiplayer games online and switching on the Blu-ray and DVD functionality of the console.

Volume

The problems in the UK mirror similar problems players in the US experienced when it was launched on 15 November.

In the hours following the launch across Europe, irate PS4 owners have taken to social media to complain about not being able to log into their PSN accounts saying it mean they "cannot do a thing" with their new consoles.

However our games correspondent Ed Smith has said that users should still be able to play games offline without the update - unlike on the Xbox One which requires users to go online before letting them access any features of the games console.

Taking precautions

In a bid to offset these expected problems, Sony said on Thursday it was taking precautions ahead of the European launch by turning off the "What's New" and "Content Information Screen" features in the PSN.

Sony said: "Not to worry, all of the other features of PSN will be fully available on day one. You'll be able to play online multiplayer games with friends and your gaming community, get trophies, make friends and share videos and live broadcast your games so you can have a great online gaming experience.

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