Sony's public handling of the massive data breach and security failure that brought down its PlayStation Network nearly one month ago evoked strong criticism from both consumers and government representatives. Game developers, too, have chimed in with their two cents about how they're losing way more than two cents.
A letter sent by Sony to video game publishers this week shed no new light on the cyber attack and did little to allay those companies' financial fears.
Video game news site IndustryGamers received a copy of the message via an unnamed insider who works at a similarly undisclosed company.
"As a valued partner we aim to keep the lines of communication open so that you are aware of our progress," reads the letter. "Our focus has been to confirm the security of the networks, protect customer data and get the services back on line as quickly as possible. We will do our best to respond to all of your inquiries and we will do everything we possibly can to support you."
Signed by Rob Dyer, Sony's Senior Vice President of Publisher Relations, the note, as the site points out, lacks any mention of what - if anything - the company plans to do to mend fences with frustrated partners.
Instead, Dyer's letter discusses the attack timeline, explains the discovery of a second breach (of Sony Online Entertainment) and touts the new security precautions and features being added to the company's online infrastructure - all of which is easily found at the official U.S. PlayStation blog.
Since the PSN shutdown on April 20th, both Capcom and Activision have issued statements expressing their frustration with the ongoing outage. While among the few to have voiced concerns, it's hard to dismiss the possibility that every single game developer with content normally available on Sony's online service is wringing their hands right now.
Recent estimates place a complete PSN service restoration as late as May 31st.
