Sony’s new loyalty programme, PlayStation Stars, will launch this year and allow you to acquire digital collectibles and select products.
After yesterday’s rather lacklustre PlayStation Plus update (which added only two retro games to the service’s premium tier), Sony has announced that it has a new loyalty programme coming later this year.
Called PlayStation Stars, this isn’t another subscription service like PS Plus and is completely free to sign up for.
The idea is to provide further incentive for regular play sessions by rewarding users with loyalty points that can be used to purchase select PlayStation products and wallet funds.
While it sounds like you can get the bare minimum just by playing any PlayStation game, Sony is already talking about special campaigns that require you to win tournaments or being the first to obtain a platinum trophy for a specific game.
If you’re subscribed to PlayStation Plus as well, you’ll be able to earn points just by purchasing digital products via the PlayStation Store.
The whole thing sounds identical to Nintendo’s own My Nintendo programme, where purchasing games or completing certain activities earns you points that can be spent on exclusive physical rewards or discounts.
One difference between the two, however, is that Sony’s programme will also offer digital collectibles.
In a PlayStation Blog post, it describes them as ‘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.’
Ironically, they sound a lot like the trophies you could earn in previous Super Smash Bros. games, which Super Smash Bros. Ultimate dropped in favour of collectible artwork called spirits.
There was some anxiety at first from some who found Sony’s description to sound a lot like NFTs. Thankfully, it seems Sony knew comparisons would be drawn and has quickly ruled out any sort of NFT involvement.
When discussing the digital collectibles with The Washington Post, Grace Chen, vice president of network advertising, loyalty and licensed merchandise, said: ‘It’s definitely not NFTs. Definitely not. You can’t trade them or sell them. It is not leveraging any blockchain technologies and definitely not NFTs.’
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Sony hasn’t provided a launch window, only saying PlayStation Stars will arrive this year.
It also won’t drop everywhere at once. The plan is to do phased regional rollouts, exactly like how Sony handled the launch of the revamped PlayStation Plus service.
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