PlayStation Home director Jack Buser has revealed that the online service now commands a 12 million strong user base.
The 3D virtual space launched on PS3 in December 2008. Its population stood at six million in June of last year and at ten million in December 2009.
The figures are not based on one-off visits, Buser said during a GDC panel attended by Joystiq. 85 per cent of users who create a Home avatar return to the space more than once, with the average user spending an hour in Home each visit.
"It's an incredibly important part of [Sony's] strategy," Buser noted, adding of 2010: "You're going to see us really embrace this idea of total game integration" to "really extend out the experience of your games".
Sony said last summer that Home’s main goal wasn’t to be a money spinner. That said, the service generated $1 million in microtransactions during its first month and is considered “a commercial business”.