 | Digital Release | PlayStation 3 November 20, 2008 (JP) December 11, 2008 (EU, NA) |
| Delisting | March 31, 2015 | |
| Developer | SCE London Multiple other studios (see below) |
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| Publisher | Sony | |
| Available On | None | |
| Links | PlayStation.com Page [Archive] PlayStation.com Support Forum [Archive] |
Delisting
PlayStation Home was delisted after six years of development, updates and expansions by Sony and numerous other first and third-party studios. It was still referred to as a “beta” product through its lifespan. The closure was first announced by Sony Japan in August of 2014 for Asian territories where the game was first launched in open beta. Though statements initially promised that PlayStation Home would be unaffected in American and European territories it’s shutdown was eventually confirmed worldwide.
Sony Japan, Europe and America independently announced the same timeline:
- November 12, 2014: New content would no longer be published to PlayStation Home
- December 03, 2014: Existing content would no longer be available to download
- March 31, 2015: PlayStation Home would no longer be available
Statements from Sony only cited “shifting landscapes” as the reason for the shutdown but comments from developers indicate that the cost to maintain and support PlayStation Home outweighed Sony’s expectations. In an article on GamesIndustry.biz, Madmunki co-founder Dave Dow states “Sony was probably fronting too much of the cost. The operating costs had to be very high… As far as I know Home was profitable, but Sony’s not really interested in profits of less than hundreds of millions.”
PlayStation Home Games
Along with the public spaces that included a shopping mall, theater and licensed “Game Spaces”, PlayStation Home was also host to several exclusive games. Naturally, these are also delisted but these games do not currently have their own pages on the site. A partial list includes:
- Xi
- Sodium
- The Midway
- Novus Prime
- Aurora
- No Man’s Land
- Mercia: Fractured Realms
- Home Tycoon
- Intellivision Gen2
- Dragon’s Green
- Conspiracy
- Slap Happy Sam
- PlayStation Home Hold ’em
- Sports Trivia
- RC Rally
- Bootleggers ’29
- Cutthroats: Battle for Black Powder Cove
- Clusterpuck
The PlayStation Home Legacy
Throughout its existence numerous companies and studios created content for PlayStation Home including Loot Interactive, Outso, Heavy Water, Virtuos, nDreams, Lockwood, Veemee, Digital Leisure, Madmunki and Hellfire Games. While none of their contributions to Home are accessible some of them have gone on to create Home-inspired multiplayer online spaces with titles like Big City Stories, Atom Universe, Nebula Realms and Four Kings Casino & Slots.
About the Game
“PlayStation Home is a ground-breaking 3D social gaming community available on PlayStation 3 that allows users to interact, communicate and share gaming experiences. By leveraging the power of PS3, PlayStation Home delivers overwhelming visual graphics and rich gaming social experiences only possible on the PS3 platform. Within PlayStation Home, users can create and customize their own unique avatars and explore the virtual community in real time where they can communicate freely through text or voice chat.
PlayStation Home users will not only be able to enjoy variety of entertainment content such as mini-games, videos and special events along with their friends, but will also be able to create their own community by using the “Club*2” feature to create clubs with other PlayStation Home users who share the same interests. PlayStation Home also allows groups of users to launch directly into their favourite online games together from PlayStation Home.
PlayStation Home, available as a free download starting December 11, will launch directly from the PlayStation Home icon on the PlayStation®Network column of XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) on PS3. Users will be able to experience basic features and services of PlayStation Home, free of charge. PlayStation Home will allow open interaction among users, business partners and SCE, and will evolve with additional features including dedicated game spaces, special events and exclusive themed items, to further enrich the entertainment experience on the PS3 platform.”
For much more on PlayStation Home’s history, the companies that supported it and to see it in action please visit Wikipedia, YourPSHome.net and Troidy’s channel on YouTube.