Sony is looking at a "total redesign of the heart of PlayStation Home," Jack Buser, director of PlayStation Home, enthused to IndustryGamers on the phone last week. [Update: For more from Buser, please read this piece where he espouses free-to-play as the future of games.]
Later this fall, Sony will overhaul its virtual world on PS3 to introduce a central Hub using a theme park design that "integrates games, quests, community events and user-generated content, while providing players with additional navigation, shopping, socialization and entertainment options. From the Hub, players can teleport to various genre-based districts, where they will encounter games tailored to their interests and style, while introducing them to a rich and diverse selection of game experiences."
The new Hub in Home
This represents the first major upgrade to PlayStation Home since April when Sony updated the core client to Home v1.5. That update introduced a suite of new technology for developers with tools "to provide their future games with real-time multiplayer, improved physics, as well as more realistic graphics and animations."
Buser told us that the upcoming redesign serves to reinforce the notion that Home has evolved from a social network to a full social games platform. Since launching in December 2008, Home has been used by over 23 million users worldwide. There are over 230 games on the platform, 65 spaces, and more than 9,000 virtual items available. The average time spent in Home is 70 minutes per session, Sony claims.
The new Pier Park
The idea of the overhaul is to make it easier than ever for Home users to get into hundreds of free-to-play games while also making Home a game in and of itself. On the free-to-play front, we asked Buser what cut of micro-transactions Sony takes. Google+ for example is trying to get an advantage over Facebook by taking only 5% versus Facebook's 30% cut. Would Sony consider altering their take to lure in more developers? "We don't talk about about that percentage publicly, but what I can say is that we use a wholesale retail model, and follow industry standard," Buser responded.
Sony also intends to further expand its Total Game Integration program, which extends the game experience for certain PS3 or PSN titles. Killzone 3 was the first to get the TGI treatment back in January. Players in Home could complete a series of mini-games to earn unlock points for Killzone 3 multiplayer. Now Sony is making TGI available for Deep Silver’s Dead Island in PlayStation Home’s Central Plaza.
That's a nice feature but the real meat of the PlayStation Home overhaul is as follows:
- The Hub: The new, futuristic Hub brings games directly to players with a featured game front-and-center upon login, the Activity Board where players can engage in quests and community activities, and a direct path to free games via the teleporter.
- Action District: A gathering place for the hardcore demographic, the Action District has a gritty, urban feel reminiscent of a first-person shooter level and provides a direct travel point to action and horror games.
- Sportswalk: The Sportswalk has an exciting outside-the-stadium feel with instant major league sports scores, headlines and highlights, ample space for sports-themed games and provides direct travel points to sports-related games.
- Adventure District The Adventure District drops you in a lush island jungle with an air of mystery, hidden treasure and discovery, where players will be able to launch directly into adventure-themed games.
- Pier Park: A waterfront boardwalk leads players to carnival, puzzle, outdoor and arcade games. Take a ride on the Pier Park Ferris wheel or visit the arcade for some bright entertainment.
The Action District
In addition to these changes, Sony also intends to launch another core client upgrade to "revamp the underlying user experience in PlayStation Home." With Client 1.55 (scheduled to launch separately from the Home redesign), the goal is to offer a more streamlined experience upon login with customized tracks for new, returning and regular Home users, which should minimize the time it takes for players to get into games.
