As a problem with many PlayStation 3 consoles around the world is preventing users from playing many games online or offline, Sony has now announced that a fix should be released within 24 hours.

According to the official Sony PlayStation blog, the new ‘slim’ PS3s are unaffected by the problem, which has reverted the date of affected consoles back to January 1 2000, disallowed access to the PlayStation Network and also prevented the launch of most games.

Sony believes it has identified the problem, which the company claims is a “bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system”.

In the meantime, Sony is advising that owners of non-slim consoles should not use their systems until the fix is released. The use of consoles before then could potentially result in the loss of certain data, including obtained trophies.