Sony has announced that it will be ending its loyalty program, dubbed PlayStation Stars. In a post on the official PlayStation Blog, vice president of network advertising, loyalty and licensed merchandise Grace Chen wrote that the company will be looking into other avenues for a loyalty program.
PlayStation Stars is being shut down after having been live for three years. The program included a host of features, including allowing players to earn rewards like digital collectibles just by playing games. Loyalty Points earned by players through PlayStation Stars could also be redeemed for PlayStation Network wallet funds.
“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,” wrote Chen. “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.”
As part of this new move, PlayStation Stars will stop accepting new members. Players that are currently members of the program will still be able to earn digital collectibles and Loyalty Points until July 23, 2025. After this date, there will no longer be any more rewards. Those that decide to cancel their PlayStation Stars membership earlier will also not be able to sign up again.
The current form of PlayStation Stars is slated to end on November 2, 2026. This gives members of the loyalty program plenty of time to use up their Loyalty Points as long as they aren’t due to expire before the shut down.
“We want to thank all of our players for supporting PlayStation Stars since the launch in 2022,” wrote Chen. “As we explore new ways to evolve our loyalty program efforts for the future, we’ll continue to celebrate all of our players through the various community activities we have planned.“
It is worth noting that since its launch back in 2022, PlayStation Stars hasn’t been without controversy. In September 2022, some discovered that one of the highest tiered rewards as part of the loyalty program was enhanced customer service. This caused an outrage, especially in Japan where the loyalty program had been live for longer. Japanese players had also spoken out about how customer service shouldn’t be part of a loyalty program.
