FEBRUARY 25, 2009 • Since January, Sony Computer Entertainment reported that 3 million additional PlayStation Network (PSN) accounts had been created on top of the 17 million announced at the Consumer Electronics Show. To date, $180 million has been spent by PSN users on 380 million pieces of digital content.

Impact: Setting up an account on the PSN is free and done mainly by PlayStation 3 and PSP owners. Therefore, the important metric is not so much the number of accounts but the overall spending activity. As digital downloads become more of a commonplace reality, it is essential that the hardware manufacturers share relevant metrics with the industry at large. Downloadable content could really benefit the bottom line for many properties, but it is important for developers to be able to know how much to invest in that area.