Sony has posted an extensive overview of its new PlayStation Stars program to the PS Blog, covering everything there is to know. The scheme launches today across Asia, and will be rolled out to North and South America on 5th October 2022, and then Europe gets it eight days later on 13th October 2022. The service is completely free to join, and you do not need a PS Plus subscription to sign up. Although, an active membership does provide extra benefits.
By signing up, which is done on the PlayStation App, you'll gain the ability to earn the following rewards:
- Loyalty Points — Can be redeemed for PSN Wallet funds and select PS Store products
- Digital Collectibles — Described as "beautifully rendered, digital representations of things that PlayStation fans enjoy, including figurines of beloved and iconic characters from games and other forms of entertainment, as well as cherished devices that tap into Sony’s history of innovation".
It's important to stress once more: these digital collectibles are not NFTs. Sony says they're "created just for our loyalty program, and while some can be rare, they are not one-of-a-kind nor does it leverage blockchain technology. They cannot be resold or traded. Digital collectibles can only be earned or acquired through PlayStation Stars."
To earn points, you'll need to complete certain tasks, such as simply booting up a game or earning Trophies. "One of our first campaigns is called 'Hit Play/1994' where members who correctly launch games that match song-based clues receive a special collectible." By simply joining PS Stars, you'll immediately earn the Star Gazer Telescope collectible.
For starters, PS Stars is accessed through the PlayStation App, which is also where you'll view the collectibles you earn. Sony has plans to roll the service out to PS5, PS4 console in the future too. You'll also redeem the points you earn through the app.
As an added benefit for PS Plus subscribers (which tier you're at doesn't seem to matter), you'll earn bonus points for simply buying games and products off the PS Store. Split across four status levels, the more you engage with the program, the more benefits and rewards you'll receive.
Will you be giving PS Stars a go when it launches in your area? Let us know in the comments below.
[source blog.playstation.com]
Comments 52
Since they're bringing back stuff from the past as collectibles, I wonder If they're gonna add the Crying Baby Doll from that Ps3 commercial? 🤔
seems strange that it isnt on ps4/5 at launch as id prefer it there.
fingers crossed the points saving is decent.
Who want to buy my PlayStation 1 music visualiser collectible? £10,000
Why don't playstations have visualisers for you music anymore? I used to stare at the PS1's one of the telly when I was off my nut. It was so cold that PS1 played music CDs and even the music from the game off the game's CD 😊
I am one of those weirdos with PlayStation credit card. We collect 5x for every dollar on PSN. I wonder if PS Stars adds onto this loyalty / rewards program (PS rewards)? Or the latter will be rebranded / replaced for PS Stars? I wonder
Sorry if I’m being daft but what do you get to spend these points on? Or is it merely to boast how many you have?
I spend a stupid amount of money on PSN so might as well earn some points.
As someone who enjoys trophy challenges, please do not give us wallet funds for them. That will be the final nail in the coffin. We’ll be flooded with even more games with stupidly easy trophies.
@itsfoz "Loyalty Points — Can be redeemed for PSN Wallet funds and select PS Store products"
How do we sign up?
@snake_v5 via the playstation app
@itsfoz PSN wallet funds, so actual money. Not sure what the points payout will be, but say they give you 5 points for every dollar you spend and you spend $50. You’ll then have 250 points. Then you go to buy your next game and in your cart it gives you the option to redeem your 250 points for $2.50 off your purchase.
Edit: math 🫣🤭
@thefourfoldroot1 The cost of the game will still be a lot more than the 0.001p of credit you earn from the trophies for completing it.
No they're much worse than nfts as they're worthless....
I guess people don’t read and haven’t realized this isn’t just about digital toys to look at. They’re also giving you MONEY to spend on games and DLC.
We’d all be stupid not to sign up for this.
@MacRider
15 years later I still don't know what the actual hell they were going for with that commercial.
@itsfoz
It looks like it is similar to the Switch e-shop where you can get a certain amount of points for each game you purchase and with those point you can cumulate them to get a discount on future purchases. Quite useful actually.
PSN credits?...sweet, sign me up.
@PegasusActual93 exactly. Its been the only way Ive been able to bring down the nintendo first party stuff from their uniform 33 pound sales price. This will help put a dent in that 70 pound price tag from new releases on PSN hopefully.
Couldn't care less about the collectibles but hey I'll take the loyalty points.
I wonder if the points expire like in the Nintendo eshop.
I had around 5€ of points there that took me forever to gather, just to have them expire on me.
And now we see Stroke the Dog/Cat/Hamster/Hedgehog soar to the top of the PS store charts as more trophies = more PSN funds.
Can we sign in today or do we have to wait until release?
Im pretty stoked for this as a trophy hunter. Hopefully it rolls out to the PS4/PS5 sooner rather than later.
As someone who has limited space for physical collectables, this is a great alternative. However I must warn people that IF they do a Kat collectable then that's MINE AND MINE ALONE!!!
I imagine the PSN credits will be minimal.
I had GAME Elite for like £36/year & that was actually worth it. Full priced game that was pre-ordered got me just over 1/10th back. Now this didn’t include the vouchers that would get you cash off or double your points (/credits) which made it even more beneficial.
When I picked up my day 1 PSVR unit I got like £26 worth of credits.
I’ll sign up but probably won’t see much benefit from this as most of my digital purchases will be deep sale games.
As others have mentioned I hope they don’t tie this to trophies/plats.
@Jeanhenry will it though? When they rewarded cash for trophies in the past, the exchange rate was $1 per platinum. I don't remember what gold and silver were, but that automatically means you would make money from platting a voices or breakthrough game.
@spcspc yeah this description sounds to me like a replacement for Sony Rewards. Especially because you can no longer earn Sony Rewards through simply buying from the PSN store (without the PS credit card).
I will sign up, and game exactly how I usually do, probably forgetting about the points until it randomly says redeem on purchases. For me, this is a nice addition, and long overdue, but nothing major.
I might browse a collectible if I get any at random, but I'm probably not going to go hunting for them. I've already looked at digital renderings of all the consoles I've owned on the Astro Game on PS5. And that was a fun bit of nostalgia within that game that this is clearly based on.
It's harmless fun. Just don't get addicted to this, people, play however you enjoy playing, don't let it become about an endless journey to collect everything. Because if the challenge is "boot up a game you don't like/own" where does it stop? Buying things to progress challenges that will literally have no way of 100% completion as more are added weekly.
Much better than NFTs:
1/ you can get cold hard cash off your next game or subscription, and
2/ it doesn't require boiling the ocean to run it (a simple centralised database is very cheap and efficient to run, compared to a Blockchain which has to be deliberately inefficient to prevent people from easily being able to make edited versions while still allowing anyone to add new legitimate ledger entries)
Would be cool if we could show off these digital thingies in a digital apartment. Similar to that Home app 🤔
I'm guessing the challenge that wants you to boot certain games is going to be games from one of the ps+ higher tiers?
PSN credit or meaningless digital trinkets?
Hard choice, that one.
'Not NFTs' 😂 absolute bunch of clowns.
@riceNpea
No joke man.
One of my fondest memories of my college years was getting nice a toasted on some very good product and listening to the entirety of Animals by Pink Floyd while watching my PS3’s Earthrise visualizer.
I can listen to Pink Floyd anytime. But that was a very special occasion. It just clicked like peanut butter and jelly.
VR Playstation Home may be on the horizon where else to display your collectibles that will be available on your phone and not your consoles at launch
sonys version of Microsoft rewards wonder how much a month you can get ?
im averaging about £20 a month on rewards at the moment
its bizarre its not on the console yet its a phone app
@LiamCroft Sorry, off sick with COVID and it’s obviously affecting my ability to read!
Cheers @PegasusActual93 and @Shstrick too!
Well, unless they give you the equivalent of 80% of a games price back, it’s going to be pretty meaningless getting digital games in order to accumulate wallet funds for purchases. Just buy games physically, far, far cheaper.
Getting funds for completing challenges is somewhat cool, but my time is too valuable to play games I don’t enjoy just for these challenges. And I’m sure Sony hope it will drive sales of the games they feature, which are likely to be newer games I haven’t gotten around to yet. Or online multiplayer repetitive rubbish.
I’ll probably sign up. If only to get the funds they provide for being subbed to plus (they also say they give you points for each time you sub, but don’t say you’ll get more for a year membership over a months, I don’t hold out much hope from Sony)…Give me funds for answering quick surveys like I did on the 360 and I’d be more pleased.
One good thing to come of it could be that Sony crack down on trophy wh*re games. After all, Sony might be giving actual cash for trophies, which might make it worthwhile for them to put more effort into quality control in this respect.
Unlike others, I do like the idea of digital collectibles (that are NOT NFTs) received from game tasks. I’d like a trophy cabinet in VR where I can view them all. Even better if they are provided for past achievements, as i’m not playing games I’ve finished again. I think I heard this would be the case.
What I don’t like are the different status levels, gained, temporarily before they reset, which grant additional perks. This is because it’s a pay to win system where you get points for digital purchases. I’m not a mug, lol, I don’t do digital purchases. You do also get it for uncommon trophies, of which I get many, but I imagine it’s balanced more towards paying.
A nice addition to the service, seemsxsilly not to sign up. Im not one to dance to any companies tune, so I wont be playing or doing what they suggest in the same way I ignore MS rewards.
But if you are going to earn a few points anyway for just using the eco system, might as well sign up!
I swear sony are just copying points off of xbox game points. Earn points playing games points build up and you can claim credit, get money off next subscription or put it towards vouchers for in store credit. Other then thay sounds like nfts...
Potential of a nice little loop here for me, as I only buy digital games on sale and typically indie titles (I'm old, and still like having that pile of physical AAA titles under the TV).
Play, earn trophies, accumulate what will likely be small amounts of points at a time - but enough to grab the odd indie on sale every now and then. And all I have to do is sign up.
If this is true this is dead wrong
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/playstation-is-giving-top-stars-members-priority-in-customer-support/
I am satisfied with this. I pre-ordered a few deluxe editions and with those points I could buy Cult of the Ram or Hades.
I'm keen. Just recently sold my Series X as dont have time for it and the PS5.. the saltiest part was losing out on £10 a month via Microsoft Rewards.. hopefully this will be similar.
Like a lot of people, I will soon drop £70 on God of War! so should get a bit of PS Stars cashback!
Oh boy! I'm excited for those collectibles! (not)
@thefourfoldroot1 are you daft? Another reason to get that shiny plat! Good give me money for all the time I've spent getting 158 plats lol so I can buy more games
@SerJosh97
They won’t give you cash retrospectively, lol. Otherwise I too might be tempted to think differently. But do you really want “easy platinum” to be a selling point more than it is at the moment?
@thefourfoldroot1 I could care less for the simple reason of there will always be cash grab plats and there will always be great games as well, and if its anything like xbox where I can earn points daily and weekly and monthly then I'm all for thus stars program. I support it
@SerJosh97
I support it too. But just imagining a situation where even more publishers/devs catch on to the easy plat game thing. Best case, the deluge brings it to the attention of Sony and they put some actual quality control in place. Personally I’d prefer just the cool figures (ideally in a VR Home package). Earning £5 a month or something by getting trophies is just not a big deal to me.
no to schemes!
No interest in the collectibles, will just rack up points for gift cards.
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