PlayStation Home
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| Developer |
SCE London Studio Loot Interactive (Products) Outso (Content) Heavy Water (Content) Virtuos (Content) |
|---|---|
| Type |
Online community service Virtual world |
| Launch date | December 11, 2008 |
| Current version | 1.87 |
| Last updated | April 1, 2015 (last update) |
| Platform | PlayStation 3 |
| Status | Closed on March 31, 2015 |
| Members | 41 million (at time of closure) |
PlayStation Home (which was also marketed and referred to as Home) was a virtual 3D social gaming platform developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's London Studio for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) on the PlayStation Network (PSN). It was accessible from the PS3's XrossMediaBar (XMB). Membership was free but required a PSN account. Upon installation, users could choose how much hard disk space they wished to reserve for Home. Development of the service began in early 2005 and it launched as an open beta on December 11, 2008. Home remained as a perpetual beta until its closure on March 31, 2015.
Home allowed users to create a custom avatar, which could be groomed realistically. Each avatar was given a personal apartment that users could decorate with free, bought, or won items. Users could travel throughout the Home world, which was frequently updated by Sony and its partners. Public spaces were made for display, entertainment, advertising, and networking. Home's primary forms of advertising included spaces themselves, video screens, posters, and mini-games. Home also featured many single and multiplayer mini-games, and hosted a variety of special events, some of which provided prizes to players. Users could use won items to further customise their avatar or apartments.
PlayStation Home was originally named "Hub", and started as a 2D online lobby for the PlayStation 2 game The Getaway: Black Monday. However, the online userbase for the PlayStation 2 was too narrow and the project was soon ported to the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3. Phil Harrison, then president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios at the time, liked the idea of having a virtual 3D community hub for PlayStation gamers, and transferred the project to what would become PlayStation Home. In a 2007 keynote speech, Phil Harrison used the term "Game 3.0" to describe the service.
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