14 DAY TRIAL // Home, the virtual playground launched by Sony just a few weeks ago, is proving to be a success from at least one point of view. The virtual goods that players must pay for are selling “like hotcackes,” if we are to believe the statements made by Susan Panico, the Senior Director of the PlayStation Network at Sony.
The avatars that PlayStation 3 players can get in Home are pretty limited and the only way to stand out from the crowd is to buy and then wear something unique or limited, which costs money. Sony says that these micro transactions involving objects will provide a big part of the revenue the company hopes getting from Home.
Susan Panico stated that the best sellers were virtual goods priced between 49 cents and 4.99 dollars. She added that they single handedly generated more revenue than movies and videos priced at 14.99 dollars. She revealed that “It's a classic 80/20 model, where 20 percent of your customers create 80 percent of your income.”
Costumes, especially a Santa Claus one, have also proved to be a big hit in sales, and Susan says that “You can imagine the opportunity with costumes for partnering with other companies and their intellectual property.”
Sony also revealed that voice chat, which had been suspended because of some technical issues, is now available again to users of Sony Home and also commented on the issue of players abusing the service, saying that the moderation team, which is rapidly expanding, would be able to take care of any issue.
As the virtual community grows and more people log in, Sony is promising that more corporate sponsors, like Red Bull, will make an appearance and will prove more important to the whole world.