Sony's Home Opens To 15 Million PSN Accounts

The beta for Sony's PlayStation Home virtual world launches to 15 million PlayStation Network users, the company confirmed alongside yesterday's NPD. Although the PS3 was well-bested 2:1 by the Xbox 360 in November hardware unit sales, the number of PSN accounts looks to be demonstrating ongoing online activity for the console's userbase -- November's results represent an increase of 1 million accounts since October. Sony revealed just yesterday it would open a full beta for its Home service to all those users, who can launch Home from the new icon on the XMB interface, and also add a headset or USB keyboard to communicate with each other. Users can create their own communities, and environments will be offered for specific titles, starting with Far Cry 2. Similar spaces for Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Warhawk, MotorStorm and SOCOM are expected in the near future. Third party publishers such as EA, Midway, Sega and Atari have expressed interest in similar promotions, and advertisers like energy drink company Red Bull will build branded spaces in Home.