Sony

Due to the critical success of its flagship PlayStation® gaming console, Sony Computer Entertainment America, LLC (SCEA) has remained a global leader in advanced hardware manufacture and sale for the past 15 years. Sporting an interface that exceeds 50 million registered accounts, PlayStation® Network is the primary online service for Sony’s gaming community.

Objective

After years of success, Sony’s legacy platform was ready to take the next step and better serve a growing online community of 1.2 million users with more flexible technology and bleeding-edge interactive features. In need of a solution that could “provide a voice for our most dedicated game enthusiasts” by handling rapid growth and extensive product evolution, SCEA turned to Direct Partners to replace its current community site with an easily expandable platform and customizable CMS that would support large-scale future web initiatives.

Collaboration

OpenCircle worked with Direct Partners and SCEA to develop a site that addressed multiple product users, including PSOne, PS2 and PS3 console customers — in addition to PSP portable gamers. Sony wanted a fierce community platform that would benefit from the ability to add custom modules with fresh functionality dedicated to new product lines. To empower users as much as possible, OpenCircle integrated the option for editors and moderators to review and modify content.

Success

OpenCircle’s new site debuted to a performance increase of 55 percent over the previous platform. Sony was able to invite new customers via email blasts above 100,000 per blast without a hitch. Site maintenance time decreased by 45 percent and cost was reduced by 25 percent. Even after being deployed for over seven (7) years, the platform continues to perform well as a seamless extension of SCEA.