PS3 Home to launch in October

By Tom Bramwell Published 12 March, 2007

Loads more details in dev Q&A.

Sony plans to launch its ambitious PlayStation 3 Home environment - announced at GDC last week - this October, and expects the initial free download to weigh in at "under 500MB", with subsequent patches "hopefully" integrated via a streaming solution "that makes them negligible".

A closed beta phase for around 15,000 users will take place between April and August, with an open beta for 50,000 or so operating between August and October.

That's all according to a "third party relations" question-and-answer PDF uncovered on Sony's developer website, which sheds further light on the service unveiled during Phil Harrison's GDC keynote.

Certain Home features are likely to be accessible via PlayStation Portable and mobile phone in some form, Sony says, while users can also expect to visit paid-for special events, and experience increasing levels of integration with the console's more traditional features as development accelerates. For example, it will be possible to track down friends easily from day-one, but you will only be able to seamlessly launch into a game of MotorStorm together once Sony gets round to coding that bit.

Another element that will take time is the environment's persistence. "Currently Home is not a persistent world, so when you leave Home, all of your possessions go with you. For instance, it is not currently possible for other users to visit your apartment while you're not there," Sony says. "We are working on the persistent aspect of Home, and expect to implement it in the long term."

In the meantime, expect Sony to sort out all the lucrative things its partners will be interested in. Advertising will apparently be kept to "palatable" levels, but will be prevalent, while content auctions, downloadable content sales, premium events and all sorts of other initiatives are on the way. "If you consider Home to be a simulacra of the real world then most goods and services found within the real world could theoretically be replicated within Home," the PDF notes.

Indeed, there are plenty of suggestive comments along those lines. "It will be possible to develop small demo-areas within Home that promote new titles, or to re-publish an old IP as mini-game within [a] Home Space," it notes.

"We believe that there will be ample opportunities for businesses and individuals alike to generate significant revenues from the Home platform," the PDF later adds, with user-to-user auctions a likely inclusion. There will be restrictions on sharing, however, with media-sharing off-limits for obvious reasons.

Lots of interesting stuff, then. If you missed out on all the PS3 Home hoopla last week, be sure to check in with our coverage of Sony's announcements.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (41) Latest comment 5 years ago

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

  • Tejstar #1 5 years ago

    Look forward to it!

  • Keso #2 5 years ago

    Sounds great to me.

    Everyone seems to be comparing Home to Live, but I’ve thought of one example of how it will infinitely improve the community.

    I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve booted up a game more then a year old, and there hasn’t been anyone online to play with. With Home I’d be able to walk into the public space and challenge strangers to a game.

    Chances are that lots of people will have this game in their collection, but maybe haven’t played it for some time, or maybe when they’ve logged in, they haven’t been able to find anyone to play with.

    Microsoft could provide this functionality through Live by implementing some kind of message board or chat room, but that’s for them to disscuss.

  • Peew971 #3 5 years ago

    Many ideas in there MS promised but didn't delivered. For instance, I wonder why the Forza 2 auctions are not for real money...
    But now with Home on its way, we can expect noticeable improvement on Live.

  • Scimarad #4 5 years ago

    The idea of Home is definitely growing on me. It really does have incredible potential when you consider the possibilities if it takes off...

  • Keso #5 5 years ago

    "Q: Can I create new items and content for Home myself?
    A: This functionality is in the works for future release. We see user created content as a very important element of Home's ongoing success."

    Cool, what with this and the online auctions could make a bit of cash along the way to. ;)

  • Beano #6 5 years ago

    Looking forward to Home also :)

    I like Sony's social community approach over Live's more focused online play approach. Glad Sony have actually chosen to do something different than Live and try to appeal to a more mainstream audience than Live does.
    Don't get me wrong ... I like Live a lot og think it works great... but Home will be far more appealing for non-hardcore gamers.

    Only critisims is the timing - Home should have been ready at PS3 launch.

  • The_Programmer #7 5 years ago

    Ready in October then. So the PS3 is still not finished.

    On Live you can have a private chat with friends no matter if they are playing a different game. You can invite friends to a game no matter what game they are playing. Will PS3 online have this basic functionality or, as I suspect, this Home just be like sticking a fancy GUI on top of PS2 online?

  • Keso #8 5 years ago

    @ Disc: I am serious, I can't wait. :)

    @ The_Programmer: I think the key word there is 'friends'. There's no way to challenge a stranger to a game unless they are already playing it.

  • Steroyd #9 5 years ago

    On Live you can have a private chat with friends no matter if they are playing a different game. You can invite friends to a game no matter what game they are playing. Will PS3 online have this basic functionality or, as I suspect, this Home just be like sticking a fancy GUI on top of PS2 online?

    All functions of Home will be integrated into the XMB for those who don't like 3D.

  • Eighthours #10 5 years ago

    I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve booted up a game more then a year old, and there hasn’t been anyone online to play with. With Home I’d be able to walk into the public space and challenge strangers to a game.

    Unfortuately, you'd then all have to add each other to your friends list (which only takes 50 names), reset your consoles, and load up the game involved, before hoping to invite each other!

    At least to start with...

  • Steroyd #11 5 years ago

    I think Sony will have that cross game invite (or cross game game playing) feature sorted by time of public release it won't be there during the beginning of thebeta test though.
    Edited by 1 at 12/03/07 @ 09:38

  • Beano #12 5 years ago

    "Unfortuately, you'd then all have to add each other to your friends list (which only takes 50 names), reset your consoles, and load up the game involved, before hoping to invite each other!"

    Why reset the console? - where did you get this info?

  • SeesThroughAll #13 5 years ago

    "Unfortuately, you'd then all have to add each other to your friends list (which only takes 50 names), reset your consoles, and load up the game involved, before hoping to invite each other!"

    Hopefully, this process will be seamless by Home launch.

  • RexRunti #14 5 years ago

    "Q: Can you enter, say, MotorStorm™ quickly through Home without
    having to travel to the specific MotorStorm™ lobby?
    Currently, users can find each other in Home, and then arrange to go off and
    play MotorStorm™ at the same time. Eventually, users will be able to meet in
    Home and seamlessly launch into a game of MotorStorm™. Similarly, users
    will be able to exit to Home directly from the game."

    Until this is sorted Home will be more SecondLife then XBox Live, hopefully they'll sort it out soon, but i get the feeling they won't and it won't be compulsary in all games. Only time will tell.

  • Azazel #15 5 years ago

    As far as 'palatable' advertising goes... Is that like, a marketing exec eating a shotgun?

  • Beano #16 5 years ago

    "Until this is sorted Home will be more SecondLife then XBox Live, hopefully they'll sort it out soon, but i get the feeling they won't and it won't be compulsary in all games. Only time will tell. "

    Of course gamers will continue to "meet" and play games without meeting first in Home via normal (non-Home) game lobbys.

  • chupachups #17 5 years ago

    "Many ideas in there MS promised but didn't delivered. But now with Home on its way, we can expect noticeable improvement on Live."

    Erm... Sony hasn't actually delivered yet either. :-)

  • justsomeone #18 5 years ago

    don't MS charge cash-money subs for use of xbox live tho? or did i dream that? no, must've dreamt it, who in their right mind would charge for, or pay for, basic online functionality?

    oh.

  • JayScott #19 5 years ago

    And 'palatable' levels of advertising by whose standards? Sony's? Oh lord...

  • Beano #20 5 years ago

    "And 'palatable' levels of advertising by whose standards? Sony's? Oh lord... "

    And Xbox Live does not contain adverts even when the users pays for the service... oh...

  • Moz #21 5 years ago

    @Keso "@ The_Programmer: I think the key word there is 'friends'. There's no way to challenge a stranger to a game unless they are already playing it. "

    You do get a list of the last 50 or so people that's you've seen on line while playing games and can invite them to join your game.

    My main concern with home at the moment is the time it's going to take to do things. Like with the finding people to play you on an old game, yet you can walk into a public area and shout out to people but, how long will it take you to get from your flat to this public space? And how long are you going to be there trying to get people to listen to you? I've used websites before that have a similar virtual world. And while the more natural way of interacting has it's benifits it's just so much slower then looking through conventional message boards and forums.

  • Beano #22 5 years ago

    You are not forced to use Home to meet people and play games - you can still start and play games with friends without entering Home. I don't know if Home/PSN will feature a "recemt players" feature - but that would be pretty easy to make though.

  • chupachups #23 5 years ago

    "don't MS charge cash-money subs for use of xbox live tho? or did i dream that? no, must've dreamt it, who in their right mind would charge for, or pay for, basic online functionality? "

    Who in their right mind would pay £430 for a games console?

  • Beano #24 5 years ago

    Yes... all 360 owners are clever and all PS3 owner are stupid.. yawn.. grown up!

  • Steroyd #25 5 years ago

    Who in their right mind would pay £430 for a games console?

    The PS3 could be a computer entertainment system or a Blu-ray player if you want it to.

    Anyway didn't people pay that much for an atari?
    Which is only a games console nothing more.

    How long will it take you to get from your flat to this public space?

    It's as easy as clicking a button, to warp there.

    <a href=http://www.ga mevideos.com/video/id/9861>Please watch the conference before asking more questions.</a>

    kthnxbye

  • Mike77gr #26 5 years ago

    PS3's HOME is for low-lifes with nothing to do!

    I prefer to play a part in the real world, thank you!

  • Keso #27 5 years ago

    "PS3's HOME is for low-lifes with nothing to do!

    I prefer to play a part in the real world, thank you! "

    The same could be said for videogames in general. ;)

  • Scythe #28 5 years ago

    "PS3's HOME is for low-lifes with nothing to do!

    I prefer to play a part in the real world, thank you!"

    Coming from a person posting on an internet forum? Pot, kettle, black?




    "Ready in October then. So the PS3 is still not finished.

    On Live ..."

    Last i checked Live now was not the same as Live when the 360 launched in Nov05, amazingly it was UPDATED and IMPROVED. And wow ... you know ... there are actually more updates coming too. Gee ... does that mean the 360 is still not finished? And there are also updates coming for Mii! So the Wii isn't finished either? The online for the Xbox went through multiple updates, does that mean it was only "complete" (and dead) when MS abandoned it in Nov05? Hey, my PC often gets software updates, I never knew it was incomplete either!!! You learn something new every day!!!
    Sorry but what an amazingly stupid comment to make. So a console isn't finished until the online service is complete and will receive no more updates? Come on, take off the green tinted specs and try and use your brain a bit. Will Home have the features you mentioned, I don't know. But I'm not commenting on those, just on your idiotic attempt at bashing the console for being unfinished while blatantly ignoring the fact that every other console (and PC) goes through software updates. Talking about unfinished consoles ... ever heard of the Zephyr?

  • chupachups #29 5 years ago

    "The PS3 could be a computer entertainment system or a Blu-ray player if you want it to."

    Most people don't want it to, yet they're still expected to pay £430.


    "Anyway didn't people pay that much for an atari?
    Which is only a games console nothing more. "

    No. The first Atari console launched for $200.

  • spud71 #30 5 years ago

    The only time people payed around the 400 mark was for Amiga's and ST's, but they were computers in their own right.

  • Steroyd #31 5 years ago

    There was some other console that sold for as much as the PS3 did.

  • spud71 #32 5 years ago

    As much as i like Playstations, i would rather see them release one without any Hard Drive. That would get the price down and it would still play the games/movies.

  • Gurgeh #33 5 years ago

    Nowhere else to post this so:

    [link url=http://www.cyna mite.de/ps3/news/more/abwaertskompatibilitaet_der_ps3_so_sie hts_wirklich_aus/80987/abwaertskompatibilitaet_der_ps3_so_si ehts_wirklich_aus.html
    ]http://ww w.cynamite.de/ps3/news/more/abw...[/link]

    God of War, MGS 2 & 3, SotC, Guitar Hero 2, PoP:TT, Okami, GTA: LCS, Eragon, FF X-2, Ratchet & Clank 3 and Lumines Plus tested on the European PS3

    If you liked Eragon you're in luck. If you liked the others, then you'd better hope Sony update the software emulator fast.

  • seedaripper #34 5 years ago

    "chupachups
    12-Mar-07 13:36:46 "The PS3 could be a computer entertainment system or a Blu-ray player if you want it to."

    Most people don't want it to, yet they're still expected to pay £430.


    "Anyway didn't people pay that much for an atari?
    Which is only a games console nothing more. "

    No. The first Atari console launched for $200. "

    it retailed in 1977...thats 30 years ago! inflation my friend...in '77 $200 was a shitload of money...get this into perspective!

    besides...the PS3 has ALOT of potential...especially via this 'home' concept.
    potentially you could invite a girl back to your 'pad' show off your stuff i.e holiday pics/movies etc..invite to web talk/cam...get to know one another, then meet...
    its this social thing that sony are tapping into...not alienating themselves to the 'hardcore'
    Edited by 1 at 12/03/07 @ 18:32

  • NoCodeNed2 #35 5 years ago

    @Gurgeh - I'd wait till the likely launch day update...but you probably knew that.

    "Nowhere else to post this so"

    there's a thread on this in the forum...but you probably knew that too. : )

  • DjFlex52 #36 5 years ago

    "There was some other console that sold for as much as the PS3 did."

    Yes, there were 2 consoles that cost more than $400 at their launch....the 3DO and Neo Geo. They both never took off and most consumers complained they were too expensive and obscure.
    PS3 is a different can of worms altogether since the Playstation brand is already mainstream.

  • ronuds #37 5 years ago

    LOL at the guy complaining that Forza 2 auctions aren't for real money! Ha ha!!!!

    "I can't WAIT to give my hard-earned cash over for virtual cars!"

  • Carrybagma #38 5 years ago

    It really is taking on Live isn't it? PSPs & mobiles, but what about the PC?

    I still feel it could turn out to be an online mall, full of idiot avatars buying tat. Or a 3D GameFAQs forum. Hope I'm wrong. The game-related stuff sounds fine.

  • 3william56 #39 5 years ago

    Gurgeh, for the non Germans here, can you translate what that test said? Is it only Eragon that worked or what?

  • LOLLERS #40 5 years ago

    bit late to the party here...

    That document seems to have quite a few inconsistencies -


    "Some advertising is reasonable...Advertising will be kept to palatable levels"

    Then right at the end -

    "Advertising will be a big part of Playstation Home." Including allowing 3rd party advertising engines and dynamic advertising.



    "Will I be able to give purchased items to another user? No but it's a planned feature"

    Then right after it

    "We have deliberately chosen not to allow users to 'give' media to other users..."


    And, Not all games will support trophies, it's up to each game to do whatever they want. As I've said before, this makes the whole trophy room kind of pointless if major games choose not to support it. I can envision a trophy room filled with EA branded trophies, while all the good games aren't represented because they spent the time and money making their game better...

  • zuljin #41 5 years ago

    @LOLLERS

    1. Advertising discrepancy. How is that inconsistent? TV advertising is palatable to me, that doesn't mean it's not a huge medium to contact people through. This is a Dev document remember...

    2. Content discrepancy. I think you've misread this. There is a difference between user created stuff, game objects and media. For example, I don't think theres anything wrong with me sharing a personal picture with you, or to give you my game pet, but to share my mp3's with you is something Sony probably don't want to promote.

    And as for the trophies, fair enough, although if Home kicks off, I doubt there will be a single developer out there who doesn't put in trophies. Don't agree completely however, since I know of people buying shit/easy games for XBox360 just to get achievements... Both systems have their flaws really.