What it was
PlayStation Home was a 3D social platform Sony Computer Entertainment built for the PS3. You made an avatar, decorated an apartment (“HomeSpace”), and met people in public plazas, malls, and game-branded venues. It was free to enter, with a store for clothes, furniture, and extra rooms — much of it tied to games and brands.
It was announced by Phil Harrison at GDC in March 2007, opened as a beta in December 2008, and ran until Sony closed it on 31 March 2015.
Timeline
- March 2007 Announced at the Game Developers Conference.
- December 2008 Open beta begins.
- 2008–2015 Continuous spaces, items, events, and regional content.
- 31 March 2015 Official shutdown.
- 2025– Home Laboratory brings Home online again on Multiserver, for PS3 and RPCS3.
Client version history
Compiled from contemporary posts and caches. Dates are estimates and still move when new evidence shows up. Full citations live in the Cache Depot version history.
| Version | Type | Est. date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.41 | Closed Beta | 2007 | GDC demo. Build date 24 Apr 2007. |
| 0.73 | Closed Beta | 13 Sep 2007 | GDC demo build. |
| 0.74 | Closed Beta | 20 Sep 2007 | GDC demo. Build date 18 Sep 2007. |
| 0.77 | Closed Beta | 26 Nov 2007 | GDC demo build. |
| 0.83 | Closed Beta | 28 Feb 2008 | |
| 0.86 | Closed Beta | 23 May 2008 | Media and events space. |
| 0.94 | Closed Beta | 25 Jun 2008 | |
| 0.96 | Closed Beta | 31 Jul 2008 | |
| 0.98 | Closed Beta | 28 Aug 2008 | |
| 1.00 | Closed Beta | 20 Nov 2008 | |
| 1.01 | Closed Beta | 27 Nov 2008 | |
| 1.02 | Closed Beta | 5 Dec 2008 | |
| 1.03 | Open Beta | 11 Dec 2008 | First public day. |
| 1.04 | Open Beta | 18 Dec 2008 | Voice chat removed. |
| 1.05 | Open Beta | 22 Dec 2008 | Voice chat back, apartments only. |
| 1.10 | Open Beta | 5 Feb 2009 | |
| 1.11 | Open Beta | ||
| 1.21 | Open Beta | 21 May 2009 | |
| 1.22 | Open Beta | ||
| 1.23 | Open Beta | ||
| 1.30 | Open Beta | 1 Oct 2009 | |
| 1.32 | Open Beta | 22 Oct 2009 | |
| 1.35 | Open Beta | 11 Mar 2010 | |
| 1.36 | Open Beta | 10 Jun 2010 | |
| 1.40 | Open Beta | 11 Nov 2010 | |
| 1.41 | Open Beta | 15 Dec 2010 | |
| 1.50 | Open Beta | 21 Apr 2011 | |
| 1.51 | Open Beta | 16 Jun 2011 | |
| 1.52 | Open Beta | ||
| 1.55 | Open Beta | 29 Sep 2011 | |
| 1.60 | Open Beta | 8 Dec 2011 | |
| 1.61 | Open Beta | ||
| 1.65 | Open Beta | 25 Apr 2012 | |
| 1.66 | Open Beta | ||
| 1.70 | Open Beta | 12 Sep 2012 | |
| 1.75 | Open Beta | 13 Feb 2013 | |
| 1.80 | Open Beta | 10 Apr 2013 | |
| 1.81 | Open Beta | 29 May 2013 | |
| 1.82 | Open Beta | 10 Sep 2013 | |
| 1.83 | Open Beta | 11 Dec 2013 | QA leak. Up for one day. |
| 1.84 | Open Beta | 12 Dec 2013 | The actual 1.83 Retail. |
| 1.85 | Open Beta | ||
| 1.86 | Open Beta | 12 Mar 2014 | Trophies. The build Home Laboratory ships. |
| 1.87 | Open Beta | 1 Apr 2015 | Last day. |
The revival
Home Laboratory restored the services Home actually talks to: Horizon (Medius, DME, Muis), custom APIs, content delivery, and the client builds people launch today. This is the first time Home has run on open-source server software.
- Open-source server implementation, published as Multiserver
- XMB Home icon restored on 4.92 HEN and Evilnat 4.92 CFW
- User-created content that can go online for other players
- A development environment close to Sony’s original tooling
- Documentation of Home’s file formats and network behavior
You can play on a real PS3 (4.92 HFW + HEN, or Evilnat 4.92 CFW) or on PC via RPCS3. Neither QA nor Retail needs a custom DNS. See the setup guide.
Inside the world
- Personal spaces Apartments you furnish, plus extra themed rooms.
- Public venues Central Plaza, the Mall, game spaces, and other hangouts.
- Game tie-ins Branded spaces, mini-games, and displayable rewards.
- Live tools Web inventory management and RTRC remote control for advanced users.
How the stack fits
Server architecture
Multiserver implements the network services Home expects, including Horizon (Medius, DME, Muis) and the project’s own APIs for accounts, content, and multiplayer. It works with both consoles and RPCS3.
Files and archive
Nautilus unpacks and repacks Home file types. The public data archive is about 384GB: spaces, items, and assets recovered from original caches and the old CDN.
Compatibility
PS3: 4.92 HFW with current HEN, or Evilnat 4.92 CFW. PC: RPCS3 with the project package or a manual PKG install. Neither client needs custom DNS — a TSS DNS override made the old Retail DNS step unnecessary.