Sony Computer Entertainment Europe formally announced that Home, its virtual world for PlayStation 3 owners, has attracted more than 10 million registered users since launching in December 2008 with a beta test.

The online hub allows gamers to create and customize avatars, decorate personal apartments, meet and chat with friends, purchase clothing/accessories/furniture, and interact with branded spaces created by video game developers and other companies. SCEE timed the announcement of this user milestone as it releases new spaces for Uncharted 2 and Ratchet & Clank, with a third space for MotorStorm on the way.

"PlayStation Home is fast becoming the meeting place of choice between users and developers," says SCEE's European Home Business Manager Dan Hill. "Every new game space enhances the overall experience for consumers, offering more variety, more choice and more enjoyment from a PlayStation Home session."

He adds, "The more game spaces there are, the better it gets, and the number of spaces keeps on growing. For developers, there’s no better way of driving interest in their titles than giving fans a hands-on, interactive experience based around the game itself. A game space in PlayStation Home ought to be a core element of every studio’s marketing strategy for new titles."

The announcement follows just a day after PlayStation Home unveiled Sodium One, a free, microtransaction-based action game in the virtual world, developed by Nottingham, UK-based Outso. PlayStation Home director Jack Buser called the "freemium" title "the future of the platform", and Outso is already working on Sodium 2 with even more microtransaction elements.

Buser has talked about Home's evolution a lot lately -- just last week, he mentioned that Sony has created a forum where it can work with developers to create 3D social games and "mini MMOs" for the online community. Along with its 10 million players, the virtual world also hosts more than 50 virtual spaces and 2000 virtual items.