Sony's new virtual community, Home, has advertisers waiting with baited breath to become a part of it, according to BusinessWeek.
Home is the first such offering to be grounded in a gaming console, Sony's PS3. Others, such as Second Life, are PC-based. Home will have many of the same features as other worlds, including the ability to build and customize the look of an avatar by a player. But unlike some of the other MMO games, Home will not require a subscription fee. Sony plans to support the virtual world through in-world purchases, content auctions and in-game/world ads.

Ads will appear throughout Home in the form of banners and billboards. Merchandise available for purchase in-world provides another branding opportunity for marketers looking to bring real-world status symbols into the game's environment.

There's the potential, even, for brands to have their in-world products provide extra strength, energy or speed to the characters, providing an incentive for player purchase. That provides, just like in real life, for both brand exposure and income from the purchase.