Sony says 4 million go home to PlayStation Home
In an interview with GameDaily, Sony senior VP Peter Dille says PlayStation Home has 4 million users, and that those who hang there hang for an impressive 55 minutes on average.
- Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer
In an interview with GameDaily, Sony's senior marketing vice president Peter Dille has revealed some stats on PlayStation Home, Sony's online virtual community, which was greeted with a rather lukewarm reception when it launched late last year. Word is 4 million people have come into Home and those who do stick around stick around for 55 minutes on average.
Sony doesn't differentiate between active and idle users (by idle, I mean you've gone in once, checked it out, and never gone back), so it's hard to say how many folks are really hard-core Home dwellers. However, what's clear is that now that it's had an opportunity to mature a bit, the company is making a push to publicize the virtual world that Sony officials have admitted has been a challenge to build and maintain.
The biggest gripe that critics have had about PlayStation Home is that it's long on Sony marketing and short on fun. But Dille says Sony is learning and will "nurture" and "develop" Home.
He says that while micro-transactions are a big part of what Home is all about, users aren't just spending money on the cheap stuff. "Surprisingly, some of the more popular items aren't the cheapest things," he says. "They're things that cost a little bit more, like an apartment upgrade."
Anybody out there a fan of Home? Or did you just check it out and never come back?