As people remain stuck at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a surge in data usage, particularly across Europe. To assist critical governments functions and ease the strain on broadband networks, several streaming services, which include Netflix, Youtube, Amazon Prime, and Disney+, stated last week that they would reduce video streaming quality. Similarly, Sony announced that PlayStation game downloads across Europe will be slowed down to preserve the internet speed (via The Verge).
While the company stated that game downloads might be temporarily "somewhat slower or delayed", gamers will still be able to "enjoy robust gameplay." The measures are being taken to preserve the internet speed for everyone including those who have switched to working from home during the pandemic. Sony added:
Sony Interactive Entertainment is working with internet service providers in Europe to manage download traffic to help preserve access for the entire internet community.
Sony hasn"t provided specifics about the extent to which it"ll slow down download speeds, or when downloads might be delayed.