Sony Online Entertainment Offering Up Perks, ID Theft Protection

Sony Online Entertainment on Thursday provided an update on how its users will be compensated for the recent outage, including gaming perks and ID theft protection.

When the network comes back online, all impacted players will get an additional 30 days of game time added to the end of their current billing cycle, as well as one day for each day the system is down.

In an effort to retain its players, many games will offer free in-game items and special events for PC and PlayStation 3 products.

"DC Universe Online," for example, will offer Batman and Two-Face masks and 30 marks of distinction. "Free Realms" will offer the chance to collect up to seven free daily items, while "Clone Wars Adventures" is providing a Count Dooku v2 outfit.

"Everquest" will offer up a series of events, including Double XP, Double Rare Mob Spawns, and Double Faction Gains. "Everquest II" and "Everquest II Extended" players will get Double XP, Double Guild XP, Loot Bonanza, and City Festivals. "Vanguard: Saga of Heroes" players, meanwhile, will get a series of Double XP events.

On "Star Wars Galaxies," the game maker will offer up a Bounty Hunter statue and a miniature model of Boba Fett's ship, the Slave I. With "Magic: The Gathering - Tactics," players will get 500 station cash and four of each of these spells: Ivory Mask, Duress, and Angelheart Vial.

Finally, "PoxNora" will offer limited-edition Carrionling, welcome back 5K gold award tournaments and two draft tournaments, plus 500 station cash.

Lifetime subscribers, meanwhile, will also get 20,000 coins for "Free Realms," 7,500 Galactic Credits for "Clone War Adventures," and 10 marks of distinction for "DC Universe Online."

Station access subscribers will also get 500 station cash.

On the security front, SOE will provide U.S.-based station account holders with free ID theft protection via Debix. Those outside the U.S. will get access to a similar program; details will be announced later.

SOE has been offline since May 2, while the PlayStation Network has been down since April 20; both due to a massive hack of their systems. It's unclear when either will be back online. SOE said Thursday "it will likely be at least a few more days before we restore our services."

It's possible that the hackers got away with users' credit card information, hence the ID theft protection. Sony is offering a similar program for those on PSN.

"We thank you for your patience as we continue to work around the clock to restore our game services," SOE said Thursday. "We know this has been a frustrating time for you and appreciate your understanding as we work to confirm the security of our network."