PlayStation Stars Program Ends After Three Years

Sony has announced the termination of its PlayStation Stars loyalty program, just under three years since its inception. As of today, the program will no longer accept new members, and current members who cancel their membership will lose the ability to rejoin, with their reward points being permanently deleted upon cancellation.

However, existing members can continue to accumulate points until July 23, 2025, and have until November 3, 2026, to redeem any remaining balance. In a positive note for collectors, Sony has confirmed that the Digital Collectibles from PlayStation Stars, including the iconic 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."

Sony did not mention any plans for a replacement program, leaving the future of loyalty rewards for PlayStation users uncertain. The specific insights gained from running PlayStation Stars were also not disclosed.

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Launched in July 2022, PlayStation Stars aimed to reward PS5 owners with points convertible to real cash value based on their spending in the PlayStation Store, as well as for completing various tasks such as surveys or exploring different games and system features. The program was positioned as a competitor to Microsoft's Xbox Rewards, though both have undergone changes over time, reducing their profitability.

PlayStation Stars faced a service outage lasting a month last summer, followed by an announcement in October of several changes, including reducing the points' validity from 24 to 12 months and excluding PlayStation Plus membership from points-eligible purchases. Now, the entire program is being phased out.