Official explains why Kazakhstan has no PlayStation Network region

Photo: Shutterstock, photo editor: Serikzhan Kovlanbayev

Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace, Dmitriy Mun, explained why there is still no dedicated PlayStation Network region for Kazakhstan and why no official Sony services are available in the country.

According to him, the number of users in Kazakhstan is insufficient for the company to establish a dedicated PlayStation Network region and officially connect its services. Mun said he had asked Sony about the required number of players for this to happen.

Despite the absence of a dedicated PlayStation Network region and the lack of official Sony services, payments with bank cards issued in Kazakhstan became possible in November.

«Do you know that Kazakhstani bank cards are now working? We were unable to resolve this issue for more than seven years. Now, together as a government, we have enabled the use of Kazakhstani cards. Isn’t that great? This is good news,» Mun said.

This is the third year Kazakhstan has been trying to reach an agreement with Sony Interactive Entertainment on restoring full access to the PlayStation Store.

Tens of thousands of users from Kazakhstan who were registered in the Russian region lost the ability to purchase games and subscriptions after the PlayStation Store in Russia was discontinued in March 2022.

In December 2023, Kazakhstani players flooded Sony’s official Instagram account with a single request — to connect the country to the PlayStation Network.