Analysts Suspect Sony Will Be Hit Hard By Data Breach.

As die-hard PlayStation fans we're obviously concerned about the near-term impact this story is going to have on Sony's platforms and games. Furthermore, as a website that deals solely in PlayStation products, we have a somewhat of a vested interest in the health of the PlayStation platform — or at least consumer confidence in it. In short, we're a little bit concerned about the whole scenario.

The PlayStation Network has become a fundamental component of Sony's current business strategy, and that's frightening from a company perspective. Yet, it's hard to justify just how big of an impact the PlayStation Network's failed security will have on the Japanese giant going forward. Ultimately, the worst is now very much behind us. The statements have been made, the stories have dominated the news, and consumers' confidence has been dented. We are all now prepared for the worst case scenario.

It's still very possible that the breach isn't as severe as Sony has reported. While unlikely, there's a very real chance that hackers failed to download all of the data (a database storing the files of 77 million users would not be particularly mobile, possibly in the region of 500GB), or that Sony is over compensating the threat of the attack. While it's good to prepare to the worst possible notion, there is still the slightest possibility that we may yet hear positive news about the extent of the data breach.

Whatever the case going forward, its evident Sony has an uphill battle on its hands with regards to winning back users' trust. Speaking with the BBC, Frost & Sullivan’s vice president of business research and consulting Satish Lele advised that Sony will need to invest heavily in order to win back consumers.

"Sony is now an online entertainment company and more and more of its revenues are expected to come from its online business as it has moved away from being a product business quite some time ago when it lost this game to Samsung,” Lele said.

"So if it is not able to do that very quickly, I think [the PSN security breach] may have an impact in the long-term in terms of the overall business of Sony.

"It's very difficult to quantify. It will have to invest a lot in rebuilding this entire infrastructure, it will have to invest a lot in marketing and telling everyone it is safe again to buy online from the services that they offer. All that will really take time for Sony to rebuild again."

We're still not sure how we're going to react when the PlayStation Network is back online with plenty of new content to purchase. It's certainly going to be awkward for those first couple of transactions. But we still can't see ourselves avoiding content because of this breach.

It's going to be interesting analysing the way this story develops. Undoubtedly it's always going to figure as a memorable moment in the PlayStation life-span, but by the same measure, will we all still feel so raw when Journey pops onto the PlayStation Store a few months down the line?

For the sake of the brand we truly hope that's not the case. Sony needs any form of positive PR it can source right now. Hopefully that develops in the form of additional details regarding the extent of the breach and the measures Sony had in place to contest it.