Sony’s PS4 console is out in the UK and Europe today, but early adopters won’t quite be getting the full next gen experience that our US cousins are enjoying.
That’s because Sony has announced that it will be temporarily cutting some of its PSN services in Europe, as well as Australia and New Zealand, in order to cope with the expected surge in network activity.
In a post on the european PlayStation blog, Sony speaks of an "unprecedented influx of players onto PSN" in America since the PS4’s launch on November 15. The company is expecting a similar surge when us Europeans join the fray.
Anticipating an almighty network activity spike, Sony has opted to "switch off a couple of features for European customers on day one."
Two features in particular have been deactivated. What’s New, which enables you to check on your friends’ recent PS4 activity, will not be available from the off. Also, the Content Information Screen, which lets you see your friends’ activity related to a specific title, will be inaccessible to Europeans.
Sony reiterates that you’ll have the bulk of PSN at your disposal, including online multiplayer gaming, trophies, friending your fellow PS4 gamers, and sharing and live broadcasting gameplay videos.
Few European PS4 owners will grumble, we suspect, provided these steps ensure a hassle-free initial experience come login time. With a day one update required in order to access all of the PS4’s media features, the last thing we want is sluggish or non-existent network performance.
Read More: PS4 Launch Games: A video guide to what you need to play
