Thought about downloading a PS4 hit to pass the time while you're stuck at home? But be prepared to wait a while.

Sony has limited download times for PS4 games in the U.S. after instituting similar restrictions in Europe earlier this week. The company did not specify exactly how slow game download speeds would be, but did mention that the measure was implemented, at least in part, to protect reliable online play.

This information comes from a post on Sony's blog, in which Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, explains that the load on Sony's servers has recently increased. Simply put, more people than usual are staying home and buying new games or playing games they already own online in the meantime.

"With more people practicing social distancing than ever before and (in)increasing reliance on Internet access, we believe it is important to do our part to address concerns about Internet stability," Ryan wrote.

The good news is that Ryan's promise of "robust gameplay" suggests that while Sony is limiting download speeds, it is running its multiplayer servers at or near full capacity. Naturally, some games will be more popular than others.

It is hard to say anything about the time it takes to download games. Normal download speeds depend on a variety of factors, including your home Internet environment, your location, the time of day, and the number of people on Sony's servers. All of these same factors come into play, so the maximum download speed will simply be lower.

Some European users commented that the maximum download speed for games like "Nioh 2" (36 GB) was 10 hours, while others said the download speed was unbearably slow. It is difficult to accurately estimate game download speeds in the U.S., but the bottom line is that if you want to play a game at night, it is not a bad idea to buy it in the morning.

Of course, there are things that can be done to mitigate these speeds; the PS4 can download games during low-power rest mode. Therefore, downloading games overnight is an option. Another idea is to use the PS4's download queue. We explained how to do this in our Final Fantasy VII Remake demo article.

Briefly, if the PS4 is powered on or in rest mode, you can access the PSN store with a web browser and have the console immediately begin downloading and installing the game. This is useful if you have time to start downloading from your computer, but don't have time to sit down in front of your PS4 to purchase a game. [The same thing is happening with streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and Disney+. For now, Microsoft seems to be offering Xbox downloads at full speed, but that may change as more people choose (or are required) to stay home.