Sony has heard the loud demands from the community and is promising in-game XMB to be available down the road, it’s been confirmed by two sources.

In an e-mail Q&A, PlayStation Network’s director of operations, Eric Lempel, said they’re “looking at a number of enhancements related to accessing some of the XMB features during gameplay, including messaging your friends. While there’s no timeline to announce at this point, we’ve heard loud and clear from consumers that in-game XMB access is one of the most requested PS3 enhancements.”

And Sony’s Paul Purdy has also confirmed this at CES, it’s being reported. The man said that in-game XMB will indeed be available within the year but wouldn’t talk of it further as Sony’s purpose at the event is to show off their new hardware offerings.

The absence of in-game XMB has been a pain in the neck for PS3 owners who want to access PS3’s operating system so they could listen to their own music or message other gamers while a game is running. Microsoft has been offering this out of the box for Xbox 360 since day one, so it’s understandable why people have been somewhat upset about the matter.