PlayStation Home downloaded 6.5 million times
- Posted May 27th, 2009 at 14:00 EDT by Mike Harradence
- 30 Comments
PlayStation Home director Peter Edward has revealed that the online social platform has been downloaded 6.5 million times since the open beta launched in December last year, adding that for the time being, profit is not the “driving priority."
Speaking to Gamesindustry.biz, Edward commented, "We do have a profit and loss on Home, and obviously revenue is an important part of it, just like with anything else. But our belief is that if you make the community happy, and get good content on to the platform - if you get a platform that people want to keep coming back to - then the monetisation aspect of it will almost take care of itself.”
"It's certainly not something that should be the driving force - not something that's the driving priority at this stage of development.”
That's not to say that we don't want to monetise the platform and that we don't have plans to do so," Edward continued. "But it's definitely a kind of consequence of getting all the other factors right, rather than being a driving force. We're not in it to make a quick buck from Home, and then move onto the next thing - Home is a strategic platform for PlayStation, and as such we're developing it."
Edward observed that Home has accumulated a ‘healthy’ user base following the launch of the open beta, and noted the service is at the "tipping point of where the platform starts to gain momentum".
"We went to open beta in December and since then we've had something like 6.5 million downloads. We've got a very healthy active user base, and we're finding as well that people aren't just churning, they're returning - which is obviously key for something like this," he explained.
"We're at the point now where we're starting to see our active user base go up, and we're getting more people coming back than are leaving, so we're at the tipping point of where the platform starts to gain momentum."
"That's really nice for us, because until that happens, you're hoping that it will happen, but you need the reassurance - so in that sense it's nice," added Edward.
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Comments
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YeahYouKnowThat
- 9:09am EDT - May 27th, 2009
- 1
And it's still a pile of s**t. Sorry I uninstalled it even on my 500GB PS3.
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michaelcorleone
- 9:24am EDT - May 27th, 2009
- 3
i think its got a lot of potential but c,mon sony.....its been in BETA for about 2000 years, sort it out b4 you get a lot of people NOT wanting to return.
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iamspongebob
- 10:07am EDT - May 27th, 2009
- 4
I bet they could make a game a billion times more succssful it if was sum MMORPG game. Now i'd love to play that.
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appleMan |
Tenejer- 10:13am EDT - May 27th, 2009
- 5
I think Home has potential. I only check it once or twice a week for about a half hour each time. Sometimes I am surprised at what has changed. Always a lot of people using it when I'm on. Just try getting onto a poker game or BackStage at Guitar Hero, or a game of chess at the Mall, really busy. I hope they add some kind of virtual E3 location. Keep up the great work Sony!
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loadstone007 |
loadstone007- 11:16am EDT - May 27th, 2009
- 8
Well, I think Home is a fantastic feature of the PS3. It has so much potential, Sony just has to invest more time and brain-power in it. They have to add some kind of a social networking web site support, like Facebook. When you add someone you meet online, you forget after a few days who he is. Adding more information about each user will fix that (like personal photos, etc).
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nextgen3
- 11:48am EDT - May 27th, 2009
- 9
Not bad at all, its good feature that SONY has done to attract a social network using it via a PS3 system. i dont know why so many users hate this feature but what i do know its all a bit of fun along with your mates & meeting new users online. plus it does have a lot of potential with new things coming to HOME every thursdays update, its a slow process but its getting there.
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chilledbreeze7
- 12:04pm EDT - May 27th, 2009
- 10
i don't think I've been in home for at least 4 months or so now
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hillybilly
- 12:20pm EDT - May 27th, 2009
- 11
Home would be great but its just missing that little thing that makes over social software addicitive, it needs more social aspects and more rooms for sure
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yogosan
- 1:33pm EDT - May 27th, 2009
- 13
if they let users kick the shiit out of each other and start riots, instead of buying t-shirts and teddy bears your buying war paint and sledge hammers, fighting over who gets to play chess, gang raping the lone wanderers with ppl on ur friends list, and then that person calls her friends and all of a sudden theres giant orgy going down in the mall,now that would be fun, psychopathic but fun
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Ukpet_Anime
- 3:09pm EDT - May 27th, 2009
- 15
@13 That's one sick minded joke. Sure ok GTA-styled combat or w/e in an enclosed area...a sort of "fight club" but I doubt you've actually been a real life victim of those crimes, hence why it's easier for you to enjoy imagining that level of degenerate behaviour!
I personally am pig-sick of the perverted, annoying young people on there in the first place who assume they can get away with constant harassment of others. It's part of why I don't use Home as much as I used to. It needs moderation to inspire a level of fear/authority in people to behave and respect others around them or else face a number of punishments. I wouldn't mind voting for a bricking of a console from a repeating offender (i,e not somebody who is borrowing a friends console to cause mayhem)
But overall it is a well thought out environment which should be good for game launching and decent socialising amongst friends and newcomers (who I don't mind helping out, yeah I'm weird like that so sue me :-p)
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mixpix72
- 4:31pm EDT - May 27th, 2009
- 16
what the he l l is this guy talking about. it sounds like alot of crap. "we arent trying to make money"... yeah right then why is a table that doesnt even really exist cost 2 dollars or more. well whatever i like home i just dont spend money in it.
oh and hey M$ 6.5 million downloads... not bad for 2002 technology. how are you mii rip offs doing?
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O_G_H
- 4:43pm EDT - May 27th, 2009
- 17
Well, I'm one of the "returners" he talked about. And let me tell ya, I for one am glad some of you guys don't show up. I said it at the end of the closed beta:
"In 5 weeks, there will be two types of PS3 owner. The Home users and everybody else."
Just about everyone that "doesn't get it" is now gone (the rest stays and griefs people), and Home is better for it.
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Analyzer
- 4:55pm EDT - May 27th, 2009
- 18
SONY.....give the ability to people to watch and listen to HDD content with friends in the personal space....as you promised 2 years ago...and maybe HOME will actually serve a purpose. The promised TROPHY personal room would be nice too. Man!!! I would have a lot to show off is that room existed......LOL
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O_G_H
- 5:11pm EDT - May 27th, 2009
- 19
@18 That trophy room is a bad idea and a waste. Sony realized that. All that space used and everybody would do the same thing. Get a new trophy and stare at it in their room. Do YOU really wanna go to someone's personal space and look at their trophies? Ok, so you decide to once...so how often would you go back? Yeah, it's take a new spin when you actually think about it, doesnt it. Sony already implemented the best way to bragging rights, the trophy compare in the XMB (and from inside Home).
Let me put it another way (especially since so many of you don't get it). Home should be and will be filled with things that essentially DO NOT pit people against each other. Home is NOT the place for competition (you have Blu-Ray and PSN games for that). Competition brings out anti-social behavior. From tea bagging to rage quitting. That's fine when I stomp someone in Madden or SFIV, but not in Home. How do you socialize after that? THAT's the issue most of you are having whether you realize it or not.
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