PSN maintenance planned for Thursday, Feb. 12

Sony has announced that scheduled maintenance for PlayStation Network will take place on Thursday, February 12th, from 9:00am to 12:30pm Pacific Time (12:00pm to 3:30pm Eastern). During this approximate three-and-a-half hour window, Sony will deploy "a series of back-end improvements" to the network.

Sony notes that if you've signed into the network before, you should still be able to play games online and access partner apps like Netflix during the period. There are some important notes about signing in prior to maintenance though.

• PS4 users – The PS4 must be activated as your Primary System in order to play online titles and services.  Check here for instructions on setting your PS4 as your Primary System.
• PS3/PS Vita – Make sure to sign in to the network on the device(s) you plan to use during maintenance.

Regardless of your prior sign-in, other PSN services like the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Home and Account Management will not be available during the maintenance period. And as always, don't be surprised if Sony announces some unexpected delays. These maintenance periods can be wonky things sometimes.