Sony has announced the discontinuation of its PlayStation Stars loyalty program, a mere three years after its inception. As of today, the program will not accept new members, and current members who choose to leave will find themselves unable to rejoin, with their reward points being permanently deleted upon cancellation.
However, existing members can continue to accrue points until July 23, 2025, and have until November 3, 2026, to redeem any remaining balance. In an interesting twist, Sony has confirmed that PlayStation Stars' Digital Collectibles, including beloved items like the 3D digital model of a Jim Ryan bobblehead, will remain accessible for the foreseeable future despite the program's end.
Grace Chen, PlayStation's Vice President of Network Advertising, Loyalty, and Licensed Merchandise, shared insights on the PlayStation blog, stating, "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."
No information was provided about a potential replacement for the scheme, leaving fans curious about Sony's future plans and the insights gained from running PlayStation Stars.
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Launched in July 2022, PlayStation Stars aimed to reward PS5 owners with points that held real cash value, earned through spending in the PlayStation Store and completing tasks such as surveys or exploring various games and system features. The program was positioned as a competitor to Microsoft's Xbox Rewards, although both have seen adjustments over time, becoming less lucrative for participants.
PlayStation Stars faced a month-long service interruption last summer, and in October, Sony introduced several changes, including reducing the point expiration period from 24 months to 12 months and excluding PlayStation Plus membership from points-eligible purchases. Now, the entire program is set to be phased out completely.
