Repeat Home users total 25 - 30 per cent of PSN account holders

By Ellie Gibson Published 15 July, 2009

Estimates Sony Europe executive.

Sony's Peter Edward has said the percentage of PSN account holders who have downloaded Home is between 25 and 30 per cent.

That figure is only an estimate and the stats "aren't definitive", Edward said - they are constantly changing. He couldn't confirm how many users are online at any one time but did say it's "many thousands".

Apparently there was massive interest in Home when it first launched seven months ago, but numbers subsequently tailed off. According to Edward this was due to a lack of content - but the numbers of users and repeat visitors are now increasing as content grows.

As reported earlier the number of people who have downloaded Home now stands at 7 million.

UPDATE: This story originally said the 25 - 30 per cent figure referred to the number of repeat Home visitors. Sony has since clarified that the figure refers to the percentage of PSN account holders who have downloaded Home. We sincerely apologise for the error.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (48) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Teamallstar #1 3 years ago

    So 70-75% of people visit once, realise how pointless it is and then never return.

    Not really something to shout about.

  • Evolution #2 3 years ago

    edit: half asleep, wrote something that made sense

    Wow 25 and 30 per cent that use it "more than once." Given that he estimates "many thousands" that currently use it still does that mean that out of the total PS3 userbase only about 2% actually use Home?
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/09 @ 13:51

  • DFawkes #3 3 years ago

    That's pretty poor considering. The vast majority come in, see it, and never come back. That's a surprise to me, I'd have though most would've dipped in a second time to see the extra stuff like the EA zone, which has some nice mini-games in it.

  • laudy #4 3 years ago

    it's useless, utterly useless

    I spent a long time waiting for the latest version to update, only to be extremely disappointed by what I saw.

    I for one will never go near it again.

  • danathjo #5 3 years ago

    maybe if they more of that IX/XQ or whatever it was called, enjoyed that bit...otherwise it's just a bunch of guys doing the running and and pretending to be woman in there

  • stepneg #6 3 years ago

    I'm surprised they haven't just let it die quietly and use the resources elsewhere, they can't be making money on micro transactions if over a third of PS3 owners don't even bother to log back in a second time, myself included.

  • toy_brain #7 3 years ago

    One of Homes problems seems to be that its just not well advertised outside of itself.

    Xi was a lot of fun (as I've said elsewhere), but for a game that constantly grew, evolved, attracted something resembling a community, and was a bit of a first in console terms, I never saw many websites report on it. It passed by a lot of people totally unnoticed.

    And I think there have been a number of other little 'events' that have sailed on by, totally unreported by any website.
    Perhaps if people knew, it would be more popular.
    And if it was more popular, it would be attracting more investment.

    Hmm, its been a while since I last logged on come to think of it......

  • Darren #8 3 years ago

    I loaded up Home three times during the beta but I find it such an empty, unrewarding waste of time that I've not bothered since.

    It was an intriguing concept but in practice I found it completely pointless and superfluous unless someone's idea of socialising and having a good time is mixing with virtual strangers who they'll likely never meet. And if they want to just play games online then why would they bother doing so through Home when you can just do it through the game itself? A strange piece of software really...

  • Raz76 #9 3 years ago

    I've visited it more than once because I sometimes accidentally click the Home button when I want to access the PSN Store.
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/09 @ 14:28

  • mingster #10 3 years ago

    it sucks harder than a whore through a straw

  • Vistrix #11 3 years ago

    Its too crowded whenever I log on.

  • davisorle #12 3 years ago

    It's really funny not only to come out and say that Home has failed the ppl that were waiting for it so badly and to correct someone that said it hasnt been enough advertised, I think most PS3 owners or even that had it preordered without even the PS3 itself being out, kept talking about it more than enough each time mentioned even in EG. It's even worth to consider telling us what's the percentage of ppl that logged in more than just a couple of times instead of once... And don't tell me it makes no difference lol. And if you also include the fact that 7m were the downloads, not unique PS3 owner downloads.

    More or less what im trying to say is that its practically not doing anything right now. Rather go check Second Life out with a headset and joke around with some peeps in adult areas ( unless you aren't an adult..?! ) and do it for free and it will be fun as it is, no charge. Just don't get sucked into it. Its a lifeeater :/ lol been there in the past so I know what I'm saying :p

    So let me ask again, why come and say in the public about those numbers? Maybe since Sony has been going downhills when it comes to impressions to the consumer ( meaning now in comparison till a couple of years ago ) are trying reverse psychology on this? o.O
    "People that tried it didn't like it by a big percentage.. it might be for you then if you think about it"

  • 4thVariety #13 3 years ago

    So 70% loss after the first visit, that raises the question how many people are left after five visits, or ten? 5%, 1%?

    I am sure each PS3 owner will check it out at least once, since there are no costs and everybody got a boring afternoon sometime. The really interesting numbers would be those of regular visitors who use this once a week. That's the numbers advertisers and microtransaction content creators want to see. So far Home content is more of a free ad for the underlying game in the shape of a news post on Eurogamer, Kotaku and Joystick than anything else.

  • DFawkes #14 3 years ago

    Just curious, does nayone use the game spaces? For example, does anyone enter the Resistance 2 space and find a team, have a chat, then fire right into a game? I'd imagine that's what it's for, but if it is happening it's not in English - the majority of users on at the same time as me are either French or Italian speakers.

  • onyxbox #15 3 years ago

    I think Home has it's place but personally I find it hard to justify spending any time in there because there are better things to do on the PS3. I would much rather spend an hour playing a game than wandering around trying to strike up a conversation with someone. Lack of headsets is probably a blessing, I can't imagine the conversations being the sort of things I want to engage in.

    The XMB offers text chat, voice chat, dick waving (sorry trophy comparing), and you can always use the browser to do some social networking over Facebook or Twitter, MSN or Website Forums and it's probably far easier to make friends that way than wandering around saying 'Hi' and getting 'No Keyboard. No Keyboard. No Keyboard' in reply.

    That being said I think this type of thing will no doubt get much more popular when the price of PS3 does finally drop.

  • chanderzz #16 3 years ago

    I'm one of these people who logged in once, saw hundreds of people stood around dancing and decieded this wasn't what my life needed. It's just a an overly time consuming way of getting information and communicating.

  • Toothball #17 3 years ago

    Why are they banging on about Home this week? Reports full of numbers like this are only interesting to executives. I would imagine that everyone else wants to hear a press release about it getting some actually useful and/or entertaining feature. I could see them releasing a Press Release area, where you could view press releases full of charts any time you like!

    Penny Arcade had an interesting observation on it today. They suggested that a better way to meet people to play games with was to play games instead of Home, and that games like 1 Vs 100 were likely to be a much better method of achieving this.

  • ChocNut #18 3 years ago

    I think people would log in and out of home more often if it didnt take about 5 minutes to do so.

  • Darren #19 3 years ago

    @Raz76 - I'm sure you're not the only one who has done that. I admit I've done the same myself a few times!

  • Miths #20 3 years ago

    I've used it once - the day I downloaded it back when it was publically released. Whether or not it has improved (it seemed sorely lacking in content back then) I'm arguably not in the target group anyway though, being the anti-social guy that I am :).

  • Cronan #21 3 years ago

    How hard would it have been for the exec in question to get some actual stats? This would have transformed this story from a crappy little abnecdote into actual news.

  • HermitArcader #22 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • chubster2010 #23 3 years ago

    @ Toothball
    Re. That Pennyarcade article

    They say re. 1 vs 100 ' There is no "not play" option, and there's no twisted, Soviet rationing of play like that proposed by the Sony offering', but doesn't 1 vs 100 only allow you experience the full 'game show' at scheduled times? So, outside of those scheduled times, it's more 'can't play' than 'not play'?

    Home is an open, always accessible world. 1 vs 100 is a mmo quiz show with avatars - I don't think the two are really that comparable.

    Also, this is from Eurogamers own hands-on with 1 vs 100

    'the problem is you end up making small talk too, as there are loads of breaks between rounds. Some of these breaks will eventually be filled with adverts for all manner of stuff, but on Friday they were all just ads for downloading movies from Xbox Live - a service which, if you've managed to download a game beta, you're probably aware of. You might as well try to sell me ovaries, Microsoft.'

    So... rather that putting your avatar 'in an advert' (as Pennyarcade describe Home), 1 vs 100 simply forces you to watch adverts... just like on the telly... Brilliant. Thank god for technological progress!

    Additionally, let's not forget that the PS3 also has the usual online gaming experiences in which you can meet people, chat etc. Home is an extra, a free-be.
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/09 @ 16:16

  • stoopidgreg #24 3 years ago

    shouldn't you change the headline then since it's bloody well wrong?

  • chubster2010 #25 3 years ago

    Re. the update.
    Gamesindustry.biz have updated their story on this with:

    'GamesIndustry.biz has clarified that the 25 - 30 per cent figure cited by Edward refers to the number of PSN account holders who have visited Home more than once.'

    Which is different from Eurogamer's update... The truth is out there... Somewhere...

  • busboy33 #26 3 years ago

    "Sony has since clarified that the figure refers to the percentage of PSN account holders who have downloaded Home."

    Alright, now wait a minute . . . Something isn't adding up here. They claim 7 million people (obviously PS3 owners) have logged in. If I'm reading the above quote correctly, they're also claiming that the 7 million number represents 25-30% of PSN members.

    It's my understanding that the PS3 install base is roughly 22.5 million (getting that figure from VGchartz.com -- somebody has a better number let me know). 7 million would only be 32.1% if every single PS3 owner had a PSN account, which seems a staggeringly unlikely proposition (100% online userbase?).

    If 7 million PSN users represents the low end of the range (25%), that means there's at least 28 million PS3 owners (again, assuming 100% online userbase). Even taking the high end of the range (30%), that would mean at least 23.3 million PS3 owners (again with 100% online penetration). Both figures seem to be more than their total userbase, and if there are PS3 owners without PSN accounts (which seems likely to the point of being a virtual certainty) the discrepancy grows.

    Am I looking at these numbers wrong?

  • chubster2010 #27 3 years ago

    @ busboy33

    PSP owners can have PSN accounts. In fact, anyone can sign up for a PSN account via their PC.

    (I have no idea if that will help with your calculations though! Maths isn't my strong point to be honest!).
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/09 @ 16:50

  • Toothball #28 3 years ago

    @chubster2010

    Yeah, I can see that the pair aren't an obvious comparison and it's not one that I would have even considered. I think the point was more that 1 vs 100 was like more effective at encouraging people to play games than Home is. From what I gather many people don't bother going back to Home because there's little to do other than meet people. Even though 1 vs 100 isn't on 24/7, scheduling times for it means that everyone wanting to play will be there at that time. It's a different approach I guess.

  • thegamesthething #29 3 years ago

    "Am I looking at these numbers wrong?"

    I think so, yeah. 7M have connected once, 25% - 30% of those have connected more than once.

    So around 2M people have been back, 5M haven't
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/09 @ 16:57

  • busboy33 #30 3 years ago

    @chubster:

    Can the PSP users that have PSN accounts log into Home?

    This is freeform here, so bear with me. The two numbers from the two articles are 7 million users logged into Home, and the number of Home users is 25%-30% of the PSN populace. My post above assumed every single PSN user was a PS3 owner, and assuming that they still have more people than PS3s.

    If there were more PSN users (those that have a PSP but not a PS3), then 7 million Home users would be a smaller precentage of the PSN populace (I think), so every PSP-but-no-PS3 PSN member makes the numbers more credible I think. Still, there would have to be a huge quantity of PSN members who only have a PSP, or again the online penetration of the PS3 has to be close to 100%.

    I'm an American, which means if I want to count past 10 I have to take my shoes and socks off and start counting on my toes. Point is, my math skills suck. I have to believe that I'm doing something seriously wrong with my math, since I can't imagine a major company releasing two stats that are so incompatible that I'm able to call shenanigans on it.

    Anybody got a number for PSP-exclusive PSN members? If I have a PS3 and a PSP, do they use the same PSN account or do they have two seperate accounts? Does anybody have a figure for PS3 online rates?

    @thegamesthing:
    The article has a correction, stating that the 25%-30% does not represent the number of repeat members, but rather represents the percentage of Home users against the entire PSN population . . . at least that's the way I read the update.


    UPDATE:
    [link url=http://www.edge-online.com/news/sony-explains-14m-psn -claim
    ]http://ww w.edge-online.com/news/sony-exp...[/link]
    PSP plus PS3 users that log in with a single account = one PSN account
    vgchartz has PSP ownership at a little over 50 million, so if there are ALOT of PSP-only PSN memberships then the numbers seem more believable, but that only applies if the PSP owner does not have a PS3 or has a seperate login account for each (is that a common situation? Why would a PSP-plus-PS3 owner have a seperate account for each device?).
    The real issue is the number of PS3s that are online. 360s go online roughly 60%, so even going higher for PS3s (lets pick 70%), that makes roughly 15 million PS3s using PSN, which makes the 7 million number for people that have at least tried Home believable to me -- a little over half of the people that could at least tried the free service.
    That would mean at least 18% of PSP-exclusive owners are also logging onto PSN if everybody that has a PSP does NOT also have a PS3. The more dual owners there are, that percentage goes up exponentially. Is that realistic? Do lots of PSP-only owners use PSN? Or is it common practice to have a seperate account for your PS3 and for your PSP? I'm a 360 owner, and MS has everything tied into a single account -- my Zune and my 360 both connect to the same account, for example. Do things work differently in the Sony camp?
    Edited by 2 at 15/07/09 @ 17:34

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #31 3 years ago

    Easy solution to home:

    1) Allow the menu UI to overlap/be part of the apartment in home
    2) Give something more practical in there like a game that unlocks somthing within the actal game it's adertising (the RE5 museum is a very good idea so far) - The problem is atm all the popular 'games' you normally have to que for, adding more 'rooms' would be nice..

    As a few said it's optional and it's useless atm, it just needs a better reason to use other then 'it's there'

  • m0thr4 #32 3 years ago

    I'm in the "tried it, couldn't see the point, never tried it again" crowd.

    Just not into socialising in virtual environments when I have real friends and a decent pub down the road.

    I think this sort of thing would probably go down better on Xbox Live ;-)

  • owl #33 3 years ago

    i was quite lucky in home. i got an apartment overlooking the harbour.

    . . .

    what?

  • NorUraeus #34 3 years ago

    There are a few things missing before Home becomes a truly interesting proposition for gamers. One is that the clan game launching needs to be supported 'everywhere'. So that you gather your clan in Home and can then as a clan launch into any game you want.

    The second is the long promised, but so far only seen in one game (in Japan), Home Trophies.

    Another thing that would be cool is if things like the houses you can buy yourself in games like Oblivion could be 'exported' to home somehow. That way one could show of the stuff one collected in-game to friends on home. But I guess that is more blue-sky like games integration.

  • spookyzombie #35 3 years ago

    I got too wound up with not being able to get a game of VIRTUAL pool or bowling.

  • byakuya83 #36 3 years ago

    It amazes me that articles regarding Home garner a lot of comments asking, "Who would want to use such a service?" Yet, I've never read a comment pointing out the irony that it's gamers who like to interact online (the very same who comment on such articles) who use Home. Essentially it's a glorified internet chat forum and, much like any internet chat forum, it's supported by advertising! Something to consider next time you choose to comment on an article such as this.

    Personally I don't use Home as I prefer to watch movies, browse online and play games on my PS3. However, I'm not going to come across as a bigoted fool and talk it down when it has no impact on my enjoyment of the PS3. Equally, I imagine many Home users see little benefit in responding to articles published on this site but I've never seen them going out of their way to rubbish what I am doing here and now.

  • coolbritannia #37 3 years ago

    Well I will talk it down. Home is shite.

  • chubster2010 #38 3 years ago

    @ byakuya83
    Very good point, well made.

  • Rodster #39 3 years ago

    I'd like to know the percentage of PSN users who like myself have never even bothered with Home in the first place? They make it sound like ever PSN user has installed the app. I know I haven't as I thought the whole idea behind it was rubbish in the first place.

  • zedzee #40 3 years ago

    @ laudy:

    It's interesting to read that in a very short time, you have COMPLETELY changed your mind about Home. When only recently, you were slating me for labelling it not fit for purpose.

    [link url=http://www.eurogamer.net/a rticles/sony-polling-for-home-ideas/comments?comment_start=0
    ]http://ww w.eurogamer.net/articles/sony-p...[/link]

    Glad to know you've seen the light...at least about PlayStation Home, anyway.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/09 @ 11:20

  • SEVQA #41 3 years ago

    EA - Poker
    EA - Golf driving range
    Infamous - Shooting game
    Home Square - Balloon popping
    Bowling - Arcade machines and pool
    Red Bull - Red Bull Air Race...

    It's still in BETA and the choice of mini games are getting better as devs support it!

  • zedzee #42 3 years ago

    Once and for all, PlayStation Home has been live since tail end of last year:

    [link url=http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/12/11 /playstation-home-is-now-live/
    ]http://bl og.us.playstation.com/2008/12/1...[/link]

    [link url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/playstation- home-now-open-to-all
    ]http://ww w.eurogamer.net/articles/playst...[/link]

    Stop making excuses for it and for Sony.

  • VandelayIndustries #43 3 years ago

    While I applaud the ambition of Home, I don't venture in very often. It's too slow and frankly it's boring. I can't help but feel they should tear it down and rebuild it in the image of LittleBigPlanet. The Sack Boys/Girls have more soul and charm than either the Mii's or Avatars and infinitely more so than mannequins currently stalking the world as it is.

  • BritishBlue1 #44 3 years ago

    The thing with Home is I don't really know what to make of it. I'll admit it's not my thing but there are people out there who seem to love it; my brother recently bought a PS3 (told him not to bother with a 360 LOL) and the first thing we did was go on Home strangely enough. He loved the bowling, the arcade games and especially the poker, if there's one thing that really got his goat (and mine too) it's the god damn loading times. Thankfully you can do it in the background but still...even his missus loves it and spends more time on it than he does!
    I guess Home is like Marmite, you either like or loath it...I think Sony needs to do something with Home that will make it really stand out.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/09 @ 18:41

  • BritishBlue1 #45 3 years ago

    Donnie why do you even give a shit what Sony does? We all know what camp you're in anyway.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/09 @ 18:41

  • Ryze #46 3 years ago

    @svd_grasshopper

    32X failed.

    /glances at 1995 32X - chrimbo prezzie

    *sigh*

  • knightmt #47 3 years ago

    It is definately low grade at the moment, but it could become ubiquitous with multiplayer if they ever figure it out.

  • Lemming81 #48 3 years ago

    Seriously Sony, just give it up and make LBP the new 'Home'.

    We all like Sackboys as avatars anyway, And the content is already there and we can make our OWN stuff for it. It's a no brainer, yet you created some horrible online marketting thing with the ugliest avatars known to man.