Speaking to giant gaming site IGN in Leipzig last week, producer Martijn Van Der Muelen assured gamers that the PS3's persistent social 'world' will be released before the year is out.

The executive offered a "100% guarantee" that the product will be ready in time for a release in 2008.

The service has been delayed several times, and speculation previously raged that the new social networking service could slide again as look to create a reliable, slick title.

Meulen is confident Home will be ready for users this year, however, also assuring that Sony will never charge people to use it.

More on Home as we get it.

By Luke Guttridge