Sony said it would begin a phased restoration of its PlayStation Network on Sunday on a country by country basis.

The company said in a news release it expects the restoration to be complete by May 31.

The PlayStation Network, which enables PlayStation games console owners to download games and pit their skills against rivals, has been offline since April 19, after Sony discovered hackers had breached security and accessed personal details on 77 million accounts.

The company said phased restoration of Sony Online Entertainment PC-based online games service would also begin on Sunday.

(Reporting by Isabel Reynolds)

Sony