GDC 2011: PSN Revenues Up 70% As Audience Reaches 70 Million

Sony Computer Entertainment America revealed in a GDC panel last night that its PlayStation Network now has 70 million users, and that the online service saw a 70 percent increase in annual revenues last year. SCEA distribution manager Pierre Gravereau didn't reveal an exact figure for PSN's 2010 revenues in his GDC session, but consumer site Joystiq says he mentioned that 80 percent of the 41.6 million PS3 units sold worldwide (previous reports put that number at 47.9 million) are connected online. The company also noted that its soon-to-be-renovated PlayStation Home virtual world for PS3 owners now has around 19 million users, three million of which joined the online space in 2010, each spending an average of 70 minutes there. Along with its 948 games and PS Home, PSN offers 31,000 movies and TV shows for download, video streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, its Qore digital magazine, a PlayStaton Plus subscription service featuring exclusive content, and more. "Our audience are interested in a broad array of entertainment and they like to get it all in one place," said SCEA's PSN senior director Susan Panico, according to a report from VentureBeat.