Dark Souls development dogged by PSN outage

Welcome to week three of the ongoing PlayStation Network outage. Screens across the country are dark, gamers are being forced to play in campaign mode – or to just go outside – and potentially billions of dollars have been lost. And now some more bad news, both for Sony and PSN fans worldwide: At least one video game developer is saying that the PSN blackout has directly affected its production schedule.

"I would be lying if I said the problems with PSN hadn't caused us some problems," Kei Horono, a staffer at From Software, told the tech site CVG. "But we are in contact with Sony and are aiming to meet a street date of October 11." Horono was talking specifically about a video game called Dark Souls – the follow-up to cult favorite Demon's Souls. He did not provide further details.

RELATED: PlayStation Network back online fully around May 31: report

Over at The Escapist, Logan Westbrook say it makes sense that From Software has been hit especially hard by the PSN outage. "Dark Souls has the same punishing gameplay as Demon's Souls but has a much more robust online component," Westbrook writes. "With this in mind, not having PSN available for several weeks must be playing havoc with From's development schedule."

Sony recently unveiled a PlayStation Network restoration "timeline," although details on service remain vague. Meanwhile, as we reported earlier this week, there is a possibility that the PSN may not get a full restart until May 31, more than a month after the popular gaming service was first shuttered by Sony. When service is restored, Sony has promised to offer a free credit protection plan for all PSN users.

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RELATED: PlayStation Network back online fully around May 31: report