PlayStation Home celebrates two years, outlines next year's additions

Man, it seems like only yesterday that we first stepped virtual foot into PlayStation Home, communicating with fellow PS3 owners using a complex system of gestures and gender morphing. In actuality, it's been two years since the platform launched, and according to a Sony press release, over 17 million users have visited its ghostly halls in that time. These users have participated in over 600 "community events," some of which were sponsored by other game developers and publishers, while some of which were hosted by us, such as our lightly-attended "Virtual Pizza Party/Singles Mixer 2009."

The presser also announced two games which will arrive on the platform next spring: Sodium 2, a follow-up to Outso's successful, Home-based competitve tank shooter, and Conspiracy, a multiplayer "Spy/Puzzle game" from Jet Set Games. You can check out a few screenshots from the latter of these two titles in the gallery below. We wonder if our own proclivity for sexual espionage will give us a leg up?
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December 10, 2010 – Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (SCEA) today celebrates the two year anniversary of PlayStation Home, marking its success as a premiere social game platform and providing a dynamic entertainment experience only possible on PlayStation Network via the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system. Since its launch in December 2008 with only a few public spaces and a handful of simple mini-games, PlayStation Home has evolved from a virtual environment to a dynamic social game platform offering its 17 million worldwide users more than 200 ready-to-play games and over 60 spaces to experience. Additionally, with the growing support from PlayStation 3 users and the developer communities, more than 600 community events have been held in PlayStation Home since its launch, there are over 7,000 virtual Items to collect and over 30 partners developing content for Home worldwide, including Disney, Turner, Paramount, Ubisoft, Square Enix, EA, 2K, Rockstar, Konami, and Fox.

"It's amazing to look back at the evolution of PlayStation Home over just two short years. In contrast to the simple mini-games offered at launch, we now see a huge variety of games, including massive full-length games developed by some of the most prominent and innovative indie developers in our industry," said Jack Buser, director, PlayStation Home. "Furthermore, the experience of PlayStation Home itself has radically improved over the years, with faster load times, zero-wait game access, intuitive navigation, and the addition of features such as group-based voice chat and robust inventory management. We are seeing incredible momentum and can't wait to deliver even more games and content to PlayStation Home's 17 million worldwide users."

Also, in conjunction with its two year anniversary celebration, PlayStation Home is excited to introduce several new games exclusively for the PlayStation Home platform. Indie developers such as Outso, Mass Media, and, most recently, Hellfire Games, have seen a large amount of success in developing full-length titles, including Sodium One, Midway, and Novus Prime, for PlayStation Home. In 2011, we will see the momentum continue with new IPs from Jet Set Games and a sequel from Outso, along with many more titles in development from the PlayStation Home development community. Below is more information about new titles for PlayStation Home that gamers can look forward to playing over the course of the next several months:

· Novus Prime (Now Available): Created by Hellfire Games, Novus Prime brings a multiplayer space shooter to PlayStation Home. Players can band together to protect their space station. Along with the ability to customize ships and embark on space battles of epic proportions, players can also jump out into zero G and defend the space station from parasitic insects. See the game trailer here: http://bit.ly/elcdNE

· Midway 2 (Now Available): The developers at Mass Media saw a great amount of success with the first Midway game released on PlayStation Home in 2010 and are back again for more with Midway 2. Midway 2 brings nine new games plus the timeless classic, Miz Fortune, to the already robust set of games in Midway. Along with the new games comes 100 new game prizes as well as a new meta-prize for completing all 20 Midway games. Check out the trailer here: http://bit.ly/geKm8T

· Conspiracy (Available Early 2011): Jet Set Games is getting ready to release its first ever PlayStation Home game and will take players into a secret world filled with covert infiltration and espionage with its new action/puzzle game, Conspiracy. Conspiracy will have players join different factions as they work to steal goods from enemy corporations. As the rival corporations battle it out, they will uncover the mysteries of the ultimate Conspiracy.

· Sodium 2 (Available Spring 2011): Veteran PlayStation Home developers, Outso, are back with a sequel to their highly successful PlayStation Home game, Sodium One. Sodium 2 is looking to expand on every area of the original game with heavily customizable jet racers, supersonic speeds and a pounding soundtrack. Learn more about Sodium One here: http://bit.ly/ieqU2U

Please check out PlayStation Home's infographic to see how it has evolved over the last two years into an industry leading social game platform: http://bit.ly/PSHome2year