The PS3’s home project has the potential to be a real moneymaker for Sony. However, they’re not the only ones who recognise the lucrative elements of online worlds. “Gold rush is on for Virtual Worlds” proclaims the headline for an Associated Press story published on Forbes.com. The Virtual Worlds 2007 conference started yesterday, a “leading event for Fortune 500 businesses seeking to understand and maximize marketing and business strategies within virtual worlds,” according to the blurb on the website.

These online worlds are likely to grow rapidly, with Steve Prentice, a vice president at technology research group Gartner Inc. saying "We're pretty much where the Internet was in the mid-90s.” It’s going to be fascinating to see exactly how Sony competes in this new realm of online worlds.

MTV’s presentation at the conference highlighted the company’s successes with Nicktropolis, Virtual Laguna Beach and Virtual Hills: Nicktropolis alone has attracted 2.4 million registered users. None of these worlds allow for any user-generated content, in contrast with Home.

Perhaps that’s where Home’s strength lies: it’s a trade-off between the slightly anarchic world of Second Life and the completely developer-controlled worlds of MMORPGs and MTV virtual worlds. Oddly enough, I think the fact that Home is a console affair might help as well. Sony will likely be able to lure a few non-MMORPG players with the promise of exclusive game content. The graphics will be much better than games like Second Life, the setup easier. If Sony manage to make Home integral to a well executed online service, they could be onto a real winner.

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