Latest PlayStation Network numbers, 1.5 Million accounts

by Peter Vrabel { May 21st 2007 at 4:00PM }

Any fear that the PlayStation Network wasn't pulling its fair share of subscribers can be put to rest. PlayStation Universe says 1.5 million user accounts were created since its inception, with 775,000 stemming from North America alone. Barring the fact users could have subscribed twice for multiple regions, the numbers are still impressive. Xbox Live only garnered 500,000 in the same six month time frame (including Silver and Gold memberships). Six million pieces of content were downloaded during this time. These numbers build on earlier reports of 1.3 million subscribers with over 3.2 million pieces of content downloaded.

As far as gobbling up content, our appetites are always demanding more. Not to worry. As Sony Gamer's Day coverage should indicate, we have a feast coming very soon.

[Via Qj.net]

Tags: playstation network, PlaystationNetwork, SGD '07, Sgd'07, user accounts, UserAccounts, Xbox Live, XboxLive

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

shase @ May 21st 2007 4:13PM

I think its more important to know what percentage of the content are paid contents and not free stuff...or else sony is really losing money on the service

vizunary @ May 21st 2007 4:19PM

Not necessarily, remember that watching trailers and videos is VOLUNTARILY subjecting yourself to a commercial, therefore saving some advertising bucks on movies, dvds, new games, etc.

Arno @ May 21st 2007 4:33PM

Why do you always feel the need to try and one-up Microsoft? Yes Sony probably got more signups in it's first 6-month period, but lets see why.

- Sony started its signups at a point in time where online gaming is more widespread on consoles and pretty popular among gamers. I'll let you figure out who we have to thank for that.
- Sony offers its service for free, with nothing to buy. If you remember back on the Xbox, you had to buy a connection kit with subscription.
- Sony comes in at a time when home networking is as widespread as gaming consoles themselves. It wasn't as rampant as it was when Xbox Live! (remember the exclamation mark?) launched.

Bangbang... @ May 21st 2007 4:39PM

"Xbox Live only garnered 500,000 in the same six month time frame (including Silver and Gold memberships)."

Xbox Live had over 1.5 million users in its first six months on the 360. 3 million if you insclude silver memberships.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/05/16/the-engadget-and-joystiq-interview-microsofts-shane-kim/

Its good to see that people are actually using PSN. It will force Sony to notice how big online gaming has become and open PSN up more to developers. Right now one of my biggest gripes about ps3 games is that most of them do not support online multiplayer.

James @ May 21st 2007 5:08PM

Arno, he's talking about Xbox 360.

Joe @ May 21st 2007 6:08PM

ooo... jojo, nice.

people who don't know how to use a pc loves to give credit to xbox 1 and 360 for "revolutionizing" online gaming... silly ppl. It may have helped make it more accessible, but these xboxers brag about the former.
I can't wait for the multiplatform multiplayer games. pc vs 360 vs ps3. Unreal 3 i think. Most xbox consolers think the controller is better in aiming than mouse and keyboard. I hope they remember that, when i decide to spin around them as their crosshair tries to chase me. By the way, i'll be using my mouse and keyboard with the ps3 to do that.
There's a reason why controllers use "aim help."
oops I got off topic.
err i need a statement that relates to this article.
...
PS3 PWNZ.

Mike @ May 21st 2007 6:53PM

Accusing someone who is posting on an internet forum of not being able to use a pc is quite a ridiculous statement. No matter what bias you have you also have to credit Xbox for popularizing CONSOLE online play, though dreamcast had a couple titles like PSO and Quake, that didn't really take off. This news is also very misleading since PSN is free and more or less when you boot the console you sign up for it.

Joe @ May 21st 2007 10:00PM

Mike, you are absolutely right.

*Long winded sarcasm begins*
It's not like almost all of xboxers have said how AMAZING xbox live is because it has:
VOICE COMMUNICATION...
BUDDY LISTS...
and an ONLINE COMMUNITY!! WEEEE!!
That makes it soo EASY AND MORE FUN to keep in touch with your buddies. Definitely something worth paying for. oOOOoooOooo. It totally pwnz the outdated pc style! If only pc games had thought of that. Must be the keyboard with all those buttons that makes the game too confusing and less immersive and intuitive for "true" hardcore gamers. Or maybe cause it's harder to find the games in a pc! Open the pc up; it's in there somewhere. No wonder, pc multiplayer is usually free - it's so complicated and not dumbed down! If only I had xbox live, I wouldn't have had to go through all the trouble. After all, MS has a monopoly on in game voice communication and buddy lists, right? There's no other choice.

Okay.. my point, and thankfully not an original one, i'll admit: greedy MS rips their stupid customers off at least within their XBOX world. (i'm one of them >;() They're already making a shitload of money cause they sell the consoles for more than it costs them to make it, ON TOP OF the trailers, demos and the advertisement, and the money they save using just a boring-ASS interface, while the ps3 (bang for ur buck), will only rely on sponsors, and CREATIVELY integrates advertisement into Home in "movie theaters" and other stuff, ie premium e-items (albeit their gay). Then again the $50 i saved not paying for xbox live, i'll spend it on Home's special furnitures and shirts, etc.... maybe not. =] - Most likely not.

Anyway, apparently, all the money MS gets from sponsors and selling consoles isn't enough. $50 a year may not be much; hell I pay over $100 for netflix, gamefly, internet, phone, etc. a month, let alone a year. However, Sony, who's practically giving money away with each console sold, (regardless of how unsatisfactory u may think psn is,) has still been able to provide ABOVE DECENT online services for... FREE.

Then xbots trash talk about Home, saying it's for losers. YES - of course... I can't argue against facts.
[HOWEVER,] it should cost more money to set up and support a 3d world with avatars then it does to make tabs with text (that's ur xbox live), yet somehow... SOMEHOW Sony is so close to pulling it off - miracle? So who's working harder for their customers? Then again, Sony may be relying on sweatshops.

"Oh I don't need Home" xbots say. Right, and I sure as hell should not need to pay for service that's LESS remarkable and LESS original - xbox live.

Regardless of the ps3 games' similarly unimaginative online gaming menu's and options, contrary to what all the "experts" assume (and still insist!), I never lagged during multiplayer; and I have shitty comcast cable.
A successful PSN for free - impossible? with buddylist, oooo, voice communication, ahhh, online 3D 3D 3D community, and *gasp* lag free? What the F*** ELSE DO U WANT?? NAKED AVATARS??? (..think about it sony..)
psn already has what the xbots pay for and brag about, AND MORE.

stfu already xbots. u only had "claim" to lag free multiplayer, but I haven't lagged yet on psn, so u got nothing. How many players can Resistance magically support lagfree, again? Besides, these are just console games, and xboxers brag about getting all the bells and whistles thanx to the fee. You may be a programmer, network administrator, web designer, electrical engineer, watever; ur an idiot in my book if u think xbox live's "uniqueness" merits the fee; it doesn't even deserve $1/year. Same service as its competition, ooo, but the psychedelic interface makes all the difference, right? How the hell do they get away with it? Then again, Bush won a 2nd term using flip flops, which makes no sense to me since hippies love flip flops and Republicans hate hippies.

oh... the swooshing sound effects, too, when navigating through the tabs. wish Sony thought of that.

Was it swooshing sounds? Whatever, it's nothing important.
Anyway, i care about the facts more than winning this argument. Let me know what I got wrong, unless it's everything. In that case, let me stay in my lil sony fantasy world.

I'm basing my opinions on my experience with both consoles and the pc that I own, and of course the ps3fanboy.com's ABSOLUTELY UNBIASED articles. Hope all the typos didn't confuse u! ;P

Seacrest out!

colin @ May 21st 2007 11:07PM

joe,

you have a severe case typist's diarrhea. Take a Klonopin, dude. And speak to someone about that schizophrenia.

John @ May 22nd 2007 12:18AM

Once again, a very strange experience of seeing people posting on ps3fanboy, defending xbox and pc's.

Like... guys, can you just sit still while we enjoy our black box?

We don't care about Dell, we don't care about that white pasty thing with the red ring that breaks all the time.

So... WHO are you talking to? You're talking to yourselves.

Are we THAT intimidating?

(Cue scene in some version of Alien where Sigourney Weaver says, "You must be really intimidated.")

I'm not saying you are. You're probably not.

But then again... why the postings? When none of us care?

What ps3fanboy (note the name of this site) cares about pc online or xbox online?

So why do you offer your comments?

Really! Why?

Time @ May 22nd 2007 1:48AM

@Joe

I hate to say it but he is right....despite the massive issues and problems with the 360, all the fanboys fall back on the whole "xbox live pwnss@23!!!!11"

seriously, think about it, I rarely hear how good the single player campaign for Gears of War infact most people think its average, but instead hear how Great the "online" is.....sorry for me, the game come first, and then I will worry about the online parts

I am not going to help make some developer rich and famous for making an half-ass game but the "online pwnnsss!!1!!"

matjet @ May 22nd 2007 3:50AM

the trollsssss. they burnzzz ussss. the trolsiessss, noooooooooooooo.

Joe @ May 22nd 2007 4:29PM

@Time, who are you saying is right?
@ john, who are u talking about? If me, then you may have skimmed through my pointless comments too fast. I was trashing xbox live, and compared it to online features of a pc and ps3. I wasn't comparing ps3 to a pc.
@Colin, actual schizo's may find that offensive. I may have not provided my points very coherently... Okay they were not coherent at all, however, I'm sure most of the intelligent readers of ps3fanboy can put the pieces of my argument together and understand my main point.

What does xbox live have that the ps3 and pc does not? Why is MS charging for xbox live? I have had no less than a lag free experience with the psn service. Most games has it's own ranking feature, which I don't even care for. How many more people have actually enjoyed resistance and motorstorm online multiplayer than those claiming lack of features? Furthermore, rather than commenting on my condition, which is TOTALLY none of your business >=|, enlighten me on the facts and my concerns.

How is it unfair to compare the number of xbox live subscribers to psn subscribers just because xbox live charges a fee for online multiplayer? If the xbox live fees deter consumers, that's because it's unfair of MS to charge a fee to begin with.

WHAT IS SO BAD ABOUT PSN, EXPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE SIGNIFICANT OVERHAUL FOR BETTER FEATURES AND SERVICES ARE RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER?? Didn't I read somewhere that soon we will also be able to access the xmedia bar ingame? You can't even do that with the xbox dashboard without completely exiting your game. What am I missing here? It frustrates me when people say that psn lacks features compared to xbox live without stating the specific features.

And who the hell is trolling mr matjet? Me? I'm on a ps3fanboy site DEFENDING the ps3? How the F*** is that trolling??

Oh, lastly and least important, Mike-11, if you want to enjoy ANY of xbox live's features, even as just a mere silver member, you have to sign up, and even more annoying, you'll need an msn or hotmail account! Is it psn's fault for making it easier to sign up? Is it also Sony's fault that everyone who owns a ps3 would, at least ONCE in their life, like to check out psn thus explains why they sign up? Ooo, psn is unfair cause they make it hard for their customers to resist their free decent service. *sarcasm*

@BUSH!!! What have you done!? The only difference between you and General Hein is that he at least realized his mistakes in the end!! When will you?! 2 ways to stop terrorism - diplomacy, or eradicate the Arab race. One is a bit more practical and politically correct. Maybe... 99%former, 1%latter. Just my uninformed, biased opinion.

Let me apologize in advance if I offended anyone or broke any rules. =]

PS3 PWNZ! That's right yrnzie!! Even without games, they're a strong competitor. Can you imagine how inevitable its success will be once games finally do come out? CAN YOU F***ING IMAGINE?!?!?! I can only imagine the concept of its success, but it's sure colossal magnitude will grow beyond my comprehension, until its rate of growth finally plateaus . Who would've thought the ps2 would be as successful as it is today when it first released? The same thing will happen to the ps3. Also take into consideration that ps2two succeeded with LESS features than xbox. Now, ps3 has practically more features than xbox360. Has the logic kicked in yet? Furthermore, once ps3 gaming features meets or exceeds 360's gaming features, then people will realize, OH SHIT... I ALSO HAVE A F***ING BLU RAY PLAYER; I saved at least $500! That's a whole other topic, that I can't resist commenting on. When the number of ps3's sold catches up with the number of 360's sold, ALL the ps3 owners will have a blu ray player, while most likely less than 10% of 360 owners will have an hddvdplayer add on. Thanx to Sony, blu ray players will soon be considered STANDARD rather than extravagent. It's easy to understand why most consumers still consider hd players completely unnessary to go out and buy... but if they already have one, they sure as hell will use it. That alone will help blu ray sales.
SORRY FOR GETTING OFF TOPIC. Oh look at the time.

jojo29 @ May 23rd 2007 9:29AM

"- Sony started its signups at a point in time where online gaming is more widespread on consoles and pretty popular among gamers. I'll let you figure out who we have to thank for that."

Yup the PC market for that, and i guess it does go to Microsoft, since the majority of online games are played online using windows:)Dell,Hp, etc for making computers cheaper to buy for the avg consumer so that they can get online, and the because of this broadband has come down in price significantly, so you can thank Verizon, AT&T, SBC etc..for having stiff competition of those broadband prices
sorry 360 doesnt get much credit for that nor xbox

"- Sony offers its service for free, with nothing to buy. If you remember back on the Xbox, you had to buy a connection kit with subscription."

How is Sony's Free service a 'bad thing'? the PC market does it all the time. CS i play for free, BF2 i play for free, UT2004 i play for free, Starcraft, Warcraft, Command and Conquer, etc..I play for free, which is funny, the latest Command and Conquer, i play online for free on the PC side, now im not sure about the 360 version, but i believe you have to pay to pay online ( IF thats the case ) thats funny, i paid 49.99 for my copy of C&C while your was over 90bucks ( $59.99 for the game + $50 bucks for xbox live)

"- Sony comes in at a time when home networking is as widespread as gaming consoles themselves. It wasn't as rampant as it was when Xbox Live! (remember the exclamation mark?) launched"

Hmm a semi good point, but Sony did have online play as in Socom, Killzone, Ratchet, Madden, etc.. all for free.