Sony has announced a new loyalty program called PlayStation Stars which will reward players with PlayStation Network wallet funds and the chance to earn new "digital collectibles."
Due to launch “later this year”, the scheme will be entirely free to join. Players who sign up can complete “campaigns and activities” that will reward them for time spent in titles on PlayStation platforms.
Some tasks are as simple as playing a game each month, while others challenge players to complete tournaments or unlock trophies for specific games. According to the announcement post on the PlayStation Blog by Grace Chen, vice president of network advertising, loyalty and licensed merchandise, some campaigns will even be as hard as being “the first player to platinum a blockbuster title in your local time zone.”
Points will also be earned for any purchases made through the PlayStation Store.
© Sony
Any loyalty points earned will be redeemable in a specific catalog that includes “PSN wallet funds and select PlayStation Store products.” Intriguingly, the program will also launch alongside new digital collectibles which showcase and highlight PlayStation franchises.
“They are 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,” the post reads. “There will always be a new collectible to earn, an ultra rare collectible to strive for, or something surprising to collect just for fun.”
If that sounds suspiciously familiar to the recent deluge of NFT-based gaming nostalgia sales drives, fear not. Speaking with the Washington Post, Chen 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.”
There’s no release date yet for the PlayStation Stars loyalty theme, but it’s due to arrive before the end of 2022.
“We hope this new program brings to mind past gaming memories while making you excited for the future with PlayStation: commemorating the gaming eras we created together, charting new paths to explore, and bringing players together for global celebrations,” the announcement blog post concludes. “This is just the beginning for PlayStation Stars, and the program will continue to evolve over time. We’re currently doing some early tests on this program before launching it later this year in phased regional rollouts.”
Sony also recently announced a new wave of games coming to the Extra and Premium tiers of its PlayStation Plus subscription service. Read more about those, here.
