Home also featured many single and multiplayer mini-games, and hosted a variety of special events, some of which provided prizes to players.

[5] Home had been speculated since the launch of PSN, when Sony expressed interest in such a service, specifically trophies (known at the time as "entitlements") for first-party titles.

[9] It was officially announced by Phil Harrison on 7 March 2007, during his keynote speech at the 2007 Game Developers Conference[10] where it was originally scheduled for a global public release in October 2007.

[15] In August 2008, Sony sent additional invitations to select users who downloaded a new Home XMB theme in Japan and North America.

[18] Users who purchased more than HK$60 or SG$12 worth of content in a single transaction over the PlayStation Store from 29 August – 12 September 2008, were also invited.

In March 2009, an alternate reality game involving puzzle and intrigue called Xi proved popular after it was released by nDreams for Home.

[28] In February 2010, emails were sent out to a select few PlayStation Home members inviting them to participate in a private beta test for the service.

[33] The E3 virtual booth returned the following year for E3 2013, once again featuring previews of multiple games, and a quest where players could earn a number of rewards.

[37][38] Users could also watch full-length movies for free as an effort by online video distributor Crackle via Loot Interactive.

Sony originally planned to allow users to play videos and music stored on their hard drives on virtual screens and stereos.

The Social category let users see their friends' locations, group activities, game launching events, the message of the day, and news.

With the use of Loot's Active Duty Camera (a premium item), users could also record videos in Home while in personal spaces or clubs.

[46] The "Safe Screen" was used for reporting, changing communication settings, and quick access to the user's personal space and XMB friends list.

For example, Diesel, Ligne Roset, and Game were represented in Home with their own stores where users could purchase virtual items based on each company's own clothing and furniture designs.

[51] On 16 February 2009, if users located a Helghast soldier in the North American Home, they were granted access to the Killzone 2 demo.

[62] Users could customise a variety of their avatar's features, which included gender, skin tone, hair, body shape, and facial structure.

Users could also add rooms, doors, windows, wallpaper, flooring, ceilings, feature objects, exteriors, skies, and environments.

Japan's Basic Clubhouse's video screen had the option to access a Home member's page after they had entered their PSN information.

The PlayStation Plus Private Members Club[75] was a bar area with several tables and a two-to-four player card game with special rewards.

The space also had Plus news, accessed by reviewing a cocktail menu or watching the trailers running on an in-game video screen.

[79] Home consisted of various locations for players to interact and participate in activities, which were produced by both Sony Computer Entertainment and various third parties.

The winning photograph from each of the competition's ten categories were displayed on large illuminate cubes, imitating the real-life exhibit.

[72] On 16 October 2009, Rockstar Games began having "Beaterator Parties" at the Listen@Home station in North America's former Central Plaza.

Novus Prime received two expansions – Escalation on 31 March 2011[109] and Vindication on 11 January 2012[110] – each adding new missions, weapons, enemies, races, rewards, as well as a personal space.

Aurora featured the mini-game "OrbRunner" where users could gain XP and unlock special rewards by defending the isles from enemies.

Aurora was made by nDreams and was released on 17 March 2011[111] No Man's Land[112] was a multiplayer third-person tactical shooter, featuring a cover-based movement system and 4v4 team battles.

Armour and weapon upgrades could be purchased from in-game Commerce Points in a variety of combinations, which VEEMEE planned to evolve in time.

The game also featured a large variety of story-driven missions and activities, vehicle driving, and over 50 avatar rewards to unlock.

Users assumed the role as the newly elected mayor, in which they gathered resources and brokered strategic business deals to kick-start their town's economy.

Astrosmash Gen2 featured more types of UFOs, more pronounced difficulty level progressions, and base weapon power-ups in comparison to the original.