Home Time

Well, Home is a slightly different project to what we normally do within Sony Computer Entertainment, and certainly within the London Studio. Most of what we do here is self-contained in that we make it and we sell it.

Home is different, in that while we put the platform together and we're constantly updating it, we rely upon third parties to actually put content onto the platform, and so it behoves us to be more in contact with the developer community than perhaps working on a standalone game would.

In that respect it makes a lot of sense to be going to events like GameHorizon, meeting and talking to other developers and publishers, finding out what the opportunities are for Home, seeing what other people are doing, seeing where the development community is moving.

Then we can try and get people interested in the Home platform if possible, but also if we're aware of what other people are doing we can try and make Home as resonant to that as possible.

I think it's gone very well - I'm very pleased. We went to open beta in December and since then we've had something like 6.5 million downloads. We've got a very healthy active user base, and we're finding as well that people aren't just churning, they're returning - which is obviously key for something like this.

You start off with everybody interested in what's going on, people come along and have a look around, and that then starts to tail off - but you get to a point where people come back. There's more and more content going in, there are more things to do, and people come back to have a look around - and then they realise there's loads of content.

We're at the point now where we're starting to see our active user base go up, and we're getting more people coming back than are leaving, so we're at the tipping point of where the platform starts to gain momentum.

That's really nice for us, because until that happens, you're hoping that it will happen, but you need the reassurance - so in that sense it's nice. We've had a couple of client updates with some new features, we've got a few more features coming along soon.

But the main thing is less about what we're doing on the platform - we're keeping it up-to-date, we're adding improvements and features - but the vast majority of the impact on the platform is by the content that goes on there. That's where I've been really pleased with the uptake.

You start off by showing publishers and third parties, and it's the sort of thing they get very excited about. Then you go through the reality check, where people start wondering whether or not they want to put content on there, do they want to take that risk? And it slows down a little bit.

But then you get people putting content on there and it starts to gather momentum, and now there's content in a constant flow - I think once you've got third parties realising that it has a positive effect, then they put more content on there, and you're at the point where you can be fairly confident you've got something that's working.

We're at that point now - you know what you want from the platform, you know what you believe it's capable of, but it's nice to be shown that's actually happening.

To be honest a lot of what people are doing is just hanging out and talking to each other. Home Square, which is the first port of call for most people, is still a hugely popular area, despite the fact that it doesn't change massively. We have different screens and posters, and what's shown on those screens, so obviously there's generally something new to see, but I don't think that's what draws people there. I think it's the knowledge that they'll meet people, hang out, and watch the virtual world go by. I think people really enjoy doing that.

The other thing people are spending a lot of time in are their personal apartments as well, because that's an area in which they know who they're talking to - they can bring people from their friends list and know they can have a conversation without being interrupted. Club houses are also popular for the same sort of reason, and you can also use voice communication there.

Obviously whenever any new content comes in, people flock to it and they're excited to see what there is. People are very into the customisation element of it, and having seen the way the Street Fighter IV outfits have gone, for example, and Watchmen outfits - people put a lot of stock into those recognisable appearances.

We had Star Trek uniforms that went on sale recently, and they were massively popular. We had entire spaces full of people wearing only Star Trek uniforms - that sort of thing gets people really excited.

The key thing though is that it has to involve social interaction. Home is a space for games, and there has to be the element of social interaction with other gamers, the shared interest. Movie files and trailers and those sorts of things are very interesting, and people do come and look at them, but they don't have the repeat viewing aspect to them - whereas interactive spaces where people can compete against each other...

The Red Bull air race, for example, when it first launched - but then a few weeks later we put in a leader board so that people could have their time go up there and compare it with those of those brands, or with a top ten list. As soon as we put the leader board up the usage of that space went through the roof, because then you're into an area where people can compete against each other, there's that stickiness to it - if you got into the top five of the leader board and then somebody beats it, you have no option... you've got to go back!

So it's important that content has that social stickiness and interaction, and we're finding that's the stuff that people are most interested in, as far as spaces are concerned.