A fan group has managed to get PlayStation Home up and running again, enabling players to connect online.
Destination Home is a non-profit project that has been trying to resurrect Home for a number of years, and has an offline version available for download and play on either modded PS3 consoles or emulators.
However, following collaboration with the PlayStation Online Network Emulated (PSONE) fan group, Destination Home has now managed to make it possible to connect online again.
According to the group, players will be able to connect online to Home and connect to public and private lobbies again by the end of this year.
It also posted this trailer to show the restored online connection in action:
Destination Home - PlayStation Home online 2021 teaser
Players have been supporting the project by donating Home data from their personal PlayStation 3 consoles.
This has allowed the group to bring back a number of spaces from the original app, including the Hub, the Bowling Alley and the Playground, as well as the ability to customise apartments.
PlayStation Home launched as an open beta in December 2008 and was a 3D social gaming platform that PS3 owners could use to interact with other players and visit various themed areas. It was shut down, still in beta form, in March 2015.
Much like the PSONE group, Destination Home is not affiliated with Sony, and refuses to take donations or any other money for its work, as itâs purely a preservation project rather than a commercial one.
Earlier this week, PSONE managed to bring back the online multiplayer mode in PS3 launch title Motorstorm.
The popular off-road racing gameâs online servers have been offline since the early 2010s, and with no offline multiplayer mode included, players have been limited to single-player ever since.
further reading 2 PlayStation Home and 6 other delisted games that deserve to return Scott Pilgrim is saved, but there are still plenty of brilliant games no longer available in any form
This has now changed thanks to PSONE for short, who managed to emulate Sonyâs servers and create their own server that anyone can connect to.
PSONE also supports a number of other PS3 games, including Warhawk, SOCOM Confrontation, Killzone 2, Twisted Metal Black and Calling All Cars.
Itâs currently in the process of trying to add more games to its server, including Resistance, Wipeout HD and Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal.
Strongpillow on November 25th, 2021 at 19:58 UTC »
I have a sneaking suspicion that they may end up bringing back another version of this but for VR. Sony was very ahead of the time with Playstation Home. It was way better than it had any right to be and was a perfect example of a Playstation flavoured metaverse.
This kind of social app would explode in VR. It was meant for VR from the get go. I am going to stay cautiously optimistic that it'll come for PSVR 2 at some point.
Kylix_ on November 25th, 2021 at 19:26 UTC »
Man, I remember standing in line with other players waiting to get into a Silent Hill haunted house event that was going on in the game. You got to walk through it with other players just like a real haunted house and you got a special outfit for doing it. I had an apartment with cool stuff in it. I remember there being an actual mall to shop in. There was bowling and pool and clubs with DJs. Tons of mini games themed around real video game franchises. So much fun.
Jaeg_Jojun on November 25th, 2021 at 19:20 UTC »
This makes me so happy. PSHome was a huge thing for me. something about it was so addicting to me