Sony has recently announced the discontinuation of its PlayStation Stars loyalty program, marking the end of the initiative just under three years after its inception. As of today, the program is no longer accepting new members. Current members who decide to cancel their membership will be unable to rejoin, and any accumulated reward points will be permanently deleted upon cancellation.
For those who remain members, the opportunity to earn points will continue until July 23, 2025. Members can redeem their remaining balance until November 3, 2026. Despite the program's closure, Sony has confirmed that PlayStation Stars' Digital Collectibles, such as the 3D digital model of a Jim Ryan bobblehead, will remain accessible for the foreseeable future.
Grace Chen, PlayStation's vice president of network advertising, loyalty, and licensed merchandise, stated on the PlayStation blog, "Since launching the program, we've learned a lot from evaluating the types of activities our players respond best to, and as a company, we are always evolving with player and industry trends. Through this evaluation, we have decided to refocus our efforts and will be winding down the current version of PlayStation Stars. We will continue to evaluate our key findings from this program, and are looking into ways to build upon these learnings."
Sony did not mention any replacement for the scheme, leaving the future of loyalty programs within the PlayStation ecosystem uncertain. The insights gained from running PlayStation Stars were not disclosed, adding to the mystery surrounding Sony's decision.
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Launched in July 2022, PlayStation Stars aimed to reward PS5 owners by offering points with real cash value based on their spending in the PlayStation Store, as well as for completing various tasks such as surveys or engaging with different games and system features. The program was designed to compete with Microsoft's Xbox Rewards, though over time, both loyalty schemes have seen adjustments to become less lucrative for participants.
Last summer, PlayStation Stars faced a month-long service interruption, and in October, Sony announced significant changes, including reducing the point expiration period from 24 months to 12 months and removing PlayStation Plus membership from the list of points-eligible purchases. Now, the entire program is set to be phased out completely.
