An overhaul of the PlayStation Home service has long been overdue and this new design aims to brighten up the virtual world and give all PS3 owners a reason to visit. The emphasis is still on providing a social experience for those hooked up to the PlayStation Network, but new gaming districts, free-to-play games, and more interactive content should make it a far more interesting place to frequent.
Immediately available across all PAL regions are four new districts: Action, Sportswalk, Adventure and Indie Park.
In the Action district, a new free-to-play first-person shooter called Bootlegger 29, which has an emphasis on team-play, is currently available. This will also be the place to visit if you want to hear about and play a variety of action-based games.
The Sportswalk district focuses on sports-themed games from competitive quizzes to social-based games like pool, or darts. This new area also launches with a poker lounge.
The Adventure district is inspired by the epic Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception and is also said to include adventure-based games for users to experience.
Finally, Indie Park features a host of games from indie developers and will become a place for fledgling programmers to showcase their talents.
Indeed, the whole of PlayStation Home has had a makeover with new areas to explore and the promise of regularly staged-events from music concerts to community nights.
You can download the new look PlayStation Home now from your PS3 XMB (XrossMediaBar) just under the PlayStation Network icon.
Note: We presume the update is rolling-out throughout the day as we've tried to access it and our greeted with the message "PlayStation Home is currently closed for maintenance."