Despite the service being defunct for several years, it seems that Sony is not done with PlayStation Home, its online social space for PS3 owners that was in service from 2008 to 2015. The service was shut down in March 2015, a full six years ago, and until recently there was no reason to expect Sony to use the IP again.

Despite PlayStation Home's shutdown in 2015, Sony has renewed the trademark for the service recently, possibly (but not definitely) suggesting the service, at least in name, will come back at some point in the near future. The trademark reportedly will last until 2028, but other details are unclear, and Sony has made no official statements.

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No major changes to the service itself are suggested, as it is still categorized as computer game software under goods and services, so if the service is relaunched as some theorize it can be expected to be similar in concept to the original version. The original PlayStation Home was a social service for PlayStation 3 owners that allowed them to chat and play minigames together in a virtual space with customizable characters. It also included microtransactions for cosmetic items, and it seems unlikely that Sony would pass up that profit opportunity in a relaunch. Sony could also make PlayStation Home a PlayStation Plus benefit, since a subscription to PlayStation Plus is required to play online multiplayer games on the systems.

PlayStation Home is something of a fan favorite service, with some fans going so far as to create a spiritual successor in the Dreams game creation tool. The Reddit user on r/GamingLeaksAndRumours that initially discovered the change suggests that the trademark changes mean Sony may be looking into reviving PlayStation Home, possibly for the rumored PSVR 2. However, this theory is unconfirmed and for now all those interested can do is wait and watch the trademark page.

Sony has renewed the trademark for PlayStation Home before, earlier this year. In the time between the last renewal and now no news has come out of a revival, but the changes happening within a short time period are admittedly suspicious. If Sony has plans to revive PlayStation Home, the ongoing pandemic is the perfect time to do so, as an increasing amount of people continue to use other social games like VRChat to connect with loved ones during this difficult time.

Despite the relaunch of PlayStation Home being an exciting prospect, the difficulty in buying a PS5 may make it a very exclusive club, if it does not also launch for the PS4. Considering Sony's recent focus on the PS5, a PS4 release remains a possibility, but seems unlikely. It is also unknown whether the new version will require a PlayStation Network subscription, but it seems likely considering how many other PlayStation features are PSN-exclusive.

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