Imagine a place where not only do you look like the best version of yourself, but bespoke, harbourside apartments cost a mere £4, and you can buy Ligne Roset sofas for less than £2. Well, now it exists — sort of. Sony PlayStation has created a virtual world called Home, which, depending on how you look at it, is either a design-conscious, less seedy and geeky version of Second Life, or the new Facebook — social networking but with moving pictures. Since Home’s launch just before Christmas, more than 4m people have created avatars (computerised versions of themselves), decorated virtual apartments and now invite each other round to hang out, chat and go to the pretend mall, all linked up over the internet. It’s like speaking to your friend on Instant Messenger, but because you can both see moving representations of yourselves, it feels more personal than your average Facebook wall-to-wall. It’s almost as if you’re actually in the room with your best friend who moved to Canada, and certainly a lot cheaper than the air fare.

The most bizarre aspect, though, is that while Home comes as a free game on the PlayStation 3 console, players are not afraid to spend real money, even though they’re buying, literally, nothing. At a time when real shops are finding it harder to part people from their hard-earned, more than £700,000 was spent on virtual items in the game’s first month. When you first sign in, you get a free flat and can choose free furniture and clothes, but, as in real life, create a bit of exclusivity around a product and everybody wants it. Early adopter Ligne Roset is doing a roaring trade by selling its sofas at £1.59 each, and Diesel can’t get its latest collection onto Home fast enough.

Whereas Second Lifers — users of the most headline-grabbing virtual world — are busy creating genitalia for their avatars and getting up to all sorts with other pixels, Home is more about style and sophistication. “In the first 30 days of Home, more than 400,000 users downloaded virtual Ligne Roset furniture,” says Bruno Allard, head of Ligne Roset in the UK. “It’s proof that users have a strong interest in design.” So if you can’t afford £2,500 for a real designer sofa, it’s easy to see why buying into the brand on such a basic level is so appealing.

It’s no surprise that other lifestyle brands are now negotiating with Sony to turn their products from iconic into game icons. Even virtual people need sustenance, it seems, as Red Bull and Snickers are involved. Also close to inking a deal is Audi. With the car industry in meltdown, Home could be a nice little earner. After all, for an initial joining fee of between £50,000 and £100,000, there are practically no further overheads — businesses just sit back and watch the money roll in. If an Apprentice had come up with the plan, Sir Alan would have laughed them out of the boardroom. Instead, it is looking like one of the few sure-fire ways to net a profit on the net.

The virtual-world phenomenon isn’t new — there was last year’s tabloid tale of the couple who divorced after the wife found her husband simulating an affair on Second Life. But Home is the next generation of computer reality, a utopian society closely monitored for swearing, naughtiness and general shenanigans. In the real world, haunted by the spectre of negative equity, a little escapism — where we get to play at living in huge designer pads — goes a long way. We may not be able to be as fabulous as we would like to be, but in Home there is nothing to stop you going all out. As Daniel Hill, Home’s European service manager at Sony, points out: “Identity is so important online, which is why people are willing to invest such time and effort in personalising their avatars. In Home, you can be the ‘me’ you always wanted to be.”

uk.playstation.com

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