Poll: Do You Care About the Death of PS Stars?

I’ll sort of miss it but ONLY because it was nice to get some occasional wallet funds for menial actions or purchases. If it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t care at all.

There was some decent rewards and digital collectibles were cool.

Now the program is over what the heck do I buy with my remaining points since I can t save up anymore? Squirrel with a gun? Got the disc. Stellar Blade? Got the disc

Personally, I kept forgetting it existed.

If I was more diligent about things, I’d probably have appreciated it and used it more. But really, I’m often pressed for time and want to game the way I want to game and I don’t need reward systems on Xbox or PlayStation.

So I’m happy to go without these reward systems as I then don’t feel pressured to fulfil them or that I’m missing out.

Got a few quid out of it over the years, but honestly don't care.

I’m playing daily on my PS and never even looked into this.

I could hardly care less. Reason? It wasn’t available in my region to begin with. Can’t lose what I don’t have.

I didn't know this was a thing at all

Yeah i will. Its not alot and the challenges were terrible implemented but it was nice to get a little back on digital purchases to put towards a £5 or £10 voucher. Oh well, i will go back to buying cheap credit from online retailers and waiting for deeper sales.

I am not sure why but I stopped getting the monetary rewards after cancelling plus. I didn't see the point in any other rewards.

When most people who buy a PlayStation only play either cod or fifa things like this are pointless. Just like the people who only play cod and fifa lol

I redeemed store credit from it quite regularly. I think it worked out to like 4% cash back on game purchases if you had an active PS+ sub.

I used PS Stars weekly. I doubt there will ever be another loyalty program. The more Xbox keeps porting over to PS the less this company is going to do.
.

Considering I've gotten quite a bit of wallet funds from the program, yeah I absolutely hate that it's going away. And no, I don't expect them to replace it with anything that allows that again.

Well, it loses me about £45-60 a year maybe. So sure. About half my premium subscription.

Replacement program? No chance.

PlayStation; for the payers 😉

I use my reward points to buy cheap games in the sales that I wouldn’t normally buy. So I’m gonna miss it

I'll miss my little online piggy bank. I've managed to get quite a bit of store credit out of the scheme and it built up pretty quickly to be honest.

A little bit I was able to get a free fiver of PS Store credit every so often which was nice so losing that does suck a bit

It was alright I guess, getting PSN credit from it was neat.

I’ll admit I used the service religiously. But it was never great. Sucks to see a rewards program end. But I really won’t miss it.

The only benefit to closing it down was that it made me finally cash out my points. A nice £30 for free.

A shame I didn’t realise some of my points had expired though..

A fiver every now and then was handy so just keep that Sony and we’ll be cool 😂

the wallet funds for points were the only aspect I used but I will miss it tbh. It's nice to feel like you're getting cash back, even if it's fairly negligible amounts. I think that's what most people were using it for tbh, and the bulk of it was going neglected (especially the collectibles lmao)

Every star has to die eventually, it's just how the universe works.

if i want it, i buy it. i’m too lazy to participate in these kinds of things

@Kidfunkadelic83 had to love the challenges like say (this is not a real one) "Into the void", then you basically had to boot up every plus game to figure out what the heck they were on about - there were some very vague descriptions that seemed like they were written by some insane genius, just to get say 50p of credit 🤣

I honestly forgot this was a thing.

Nope.word up son

Literally worked out a free £5 per year but ideally you needed premium to stream games so I guess its pointless really

Freaking sucks losing it because I’ve been cashing in on the five dollar rewards for a while.

Got to be honest, this is the first time I ever heard of it.

Yes. As I mentioned in the other stories on it, I’ve had almost £150 out of it. Not bad for free.

Never used so dont care. Only annoying because its another anti consumer move by sony.

If they do replace it, it needs to be based on your account on the PS5 itself, not on an app etc - this is the reason the old system didn't have many who used / knew about it.

Switzerland misses aoutnon a lot of these rewards programs so yeah... no loss here when we never had it to beginn with.... though removing stuff always feels bad.

This happens every few years. I'll miss the ability to get free funds to pay for future purchases. Makes up (a little) for paying more for digital purchases.

I get they need to relook at the whole thing as it was built around digital collectibles, and after the NFT backlash and downfall, it's clear people don't care that much

Over the years, I think I got 30€ from it. Not bad I guess. I would love a new Royalty program.

I barely engaged with PS Stars, but I appreciated that I once in a while got a small discount from checking in with it. I'll miss that.

I think I already spend enough time on my phone and console and don't honestly need another platform to keep up with.

It was nice to get something back for using the PS Store. I'll miss it and I'm not confident we will get a replacement.

I am extremely happy they shut it down. The way platform holders mismanage things like the trophy/achievement systems and these reward programs causes issues for those who prefer a completionist mindset.

I avoided the PS stars program like the plague primarily due to the forced fomo in the limited time collectible campaigns (miss it now and it’s gone forever!), and because playing a game to complete said campaign cannot be separated from the trophy unlock process. There was no way on earth I was going to play a game I otherwise would never have started just to earn a collectible, knowing full well I would not be able to delete that game and its partially completed trophy list from my account. That’s Permanently Delete, not merely ‘hide’. These are options the end user should have at their discretion.

In light of bad, lazy developers who push out games with glitched trophy lists impossible to 100%, server shutdowns rendering platinums unobtainable, low effort tacked on extraneous modes released months/years after launch which utterly deviate from the main game’s core design philosophy (i.e. roguelite, multiplayer or wave survival modes in ostensibly single player experiences) and the general lack of any intervention on Sony’s part as to what is acceptable in trophy criteria and what is not, we really should have the right to PERMANENTLY REMOVE games with partially completed trophy percentages from our accounts.

@Balaam_ dear God...

Certainly have a lot less emotions about Stars than Nemesis does that's for sure

Jokes aside I did get FF7 Rebirth outta of it but that's because I completely forget it was a thing then noticed I had loads of points

They did a fantastic job of hiding it away as best they could, the fact you had to access it through the website and not the console itself was terrible, and likely obtuse by design.

A loyalty system is fantastic for the consumer, but I can’t see a company like Sony doing something that might eat into maximising their profits.

The cash back was nice, especially if you also add the cash back from a credit card of a store to buy PSN money.

You forgot to mention a few months earlier they started to steal your hard earned points every year, so those occasional buyers or singleplayerists won't reach nothing!

Good thing they scraped it...

I benefited from several £5 vouchers from it, I'll be disappointed to see it go. Hope they do replace it and if they do get it integrated on to the consoles

I would prefer cheaper price for PS+ subscriptions instead of this kind of "rewards".

I honestly don't care if it got shut down. The program only half work in my country. It only offers digital collectibles, which is useless for me, but no reward points where you can trade with cashback from playing or buying games for whatever reason.

Just keep doing the big discount for PS+ subs. That's all i care.

There were no meaningful rewards, just random stuff that seemed a bit pointless. I quit the program some time ago. No big loss by them nuking it

I actually managed to rack up about 30€ in store credit with few digital purchases (mostly DLC, full games usually physical) and taking part in all campaigns that give coins without having to buy stuff.

However, as most of Sony's good ideas it was poorly advertised and implemented since it never was on the console itself, but I did appreciate it.

I liked it and thought it was cute

Won't make much difference to me. I always forgot to do the various 'check-ins' because it wasn't on the console and I rarely use the app, plus I didn't earn much as I rarely buy from the store as physical media is consistently cheaper.

I think over is entire existence, I've earned enough to get £10 of store credit. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Didnt like stars, but it was better than nothing.

I think what were seeing is the effect of tighter margins. When margins shrink one of three things happens. Prices go up, benefits get cut, or both. Unfortunately this is probably the latter. And yes, artificially increasing pricing in one region will impact all others if that region is large enough.

All this to say, I dont see us getting a replacement program anytime soon.

@AndyKazama can you not still get £5 wallet top ups? I'd spend all my points on them for extra ps months perhaps?

I would have liked to used it, but they never brought it to consoles, which seems bizarre. I'm not going through my phone for something Playstation.

Iv honestly never heard of it till now

I think those wishing for a “better rewards program” are high on copium. I think the point of Sony killing this rewards program is they’re trying to find ways to avoid raising prices given the current economic conditions, so the rewards program is the first thing to go.

@naruball

Lol!

Of course I’m not happy it’s gone.
I got £20 in total over a small period of time.

PlayStation Stars was a nice bonus for purchasing digital games.
I thought PlayStation Stars was a good idea and I'm kind of disappointed that PlayStation has decided to remove it.

No. I don’t really know what they are, how you get them, or what you do with them.

If there was a reward program to replace it with monetary rewards I’d be interested. Anything else wouldn’t be bothered with.

I need to redeem my 18K points!!!

I liked it, I reedemed money feom time to time and I liked some randon campaigns and collect some figures.

I am a bit sad for the closure...

Also i discovered some good games like coffe talk with those campaigns

Looking at the comments. The reality is the majority didnt bither with it nor did many even knew it existed.

Unless you are hard-core like ourselves, you wouldn't even know about it.

0 advertisement about on the ps5.

It's not even actually on the console its on the app, which I can imagine the majority dont even go on. And even in the app you wouldn't know about it unless you had seen something about it.

It just wasn't easily accessible or remotely advertised outside of the presentation about it.

I have stars but never once remembered to check and I hardly use the app at the best of times, I. He k all games and stuff on my ps5.

It was one of those schemes which was great on paper but poorly executed in real life.
The resources would be better spent else where.

Just goes to show that Sony doesn't like giving away things for free........ Even to there loyal fan base

It was nice to get £5 off after so many purchases or playing monthly picks it's better than Microsofts option to even get £5 you need like 6000 points.

It's downfall was it was never pushed via the actual consoles from PS4 to PS5 it was the app and unless your a hardcore ps fan no many I bet had it on their phones.

It was a nice incentive/excuse to buy games digitally, so I'm disappointed to see it go.

I really like the collectibles that arent random or generic. I think the coins price should be less on the app. The campaigns encourage checking out, or at least engaging in a new game or to give a spotlight on an indie. I think a lot of good can be done with it. And to embrace their legacy and IPs. And on top of all of that, the gift cards back for being a loyal customer just makes sense. I really hope something else comes out of it. It seemed like Stars had a lot of potential and they abandoned it.

I got at least $50 back in all the time I had it so it wasn't an insignificant amount but it needed better integration.

The money for points for money was convenient, but I didn't really bother with any other part of it.

I care with the day the xbox rewards end. Thats is a true rewarding program for players. Get money to buy games and play to win money.

The trinkets were pointless but getting the odd bit of PSN credit back made it worth it.

As level 4 I also had priority access to customer service. I think that's the real reason they're scrapping the whole thing, they actually had to respond to me and other level 4 customers 'quickly'.

@BNAG_Gamer For a reminder, Sony gave 14 games and a couple of add-ons for free no PS+ or any subs required with Play at Home initiative back in 2020-21. From Uncharted Drake Collection, Ratchet & Clank remake, Horizon Zero Dawn complete edition, Journey, Astro Bot Rescue Mission, Abzu, Rez Infinite, etc.
https://sonyinteractive.com/en/news/blog/play-at-home-recap-60-million-games-redeemed/
https://blog.playstation.com/2021/03/17/play-at-home-2021-update-10-free-games-to-download-this-spring/

They also gave free 5 days extension for PS+ subscribers back in February because of PSN outage.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/02/09/sony-to-offer-playstation-plus-users-five-day-extension-after-global-outage.html

So it's not about "Sony doesn't like giving away things for free" but Sony needs better execution with their programs.

I think I got 5€ 2 times out of this. Not much, this system was based for people buying their games digital.
I got a little bit out of it for some DLCs.
Microsofts Rewards system is way way better.

The reward system wasnt great , it took more than $200 spent just to get $5 bucks back. Also the campagins were more about buying than any challenge

The only thing that will bug me from this, is getting points now and knowing I most likely won't have enough to do anything just before it shuts down.

Nope. Never used it once.

I think it's how they handled it. Compared to Nintendo/Microsoft and through their services as well. Sony just didn't put the effort in, like all their other stuff badly marketed it or didn't reach people.

That or if even into loyalty programs in general. I have no interest in them.

For me the value of this was always the $5 discounts I could cash in. It's just always been nice to get a little back after spending so much on video games.

Doesn't surprise me to see this go though with Nintendo dropping gold coins and Xbox reducing it's rewards program. Seems like giving back just isn't a popular concept anymore. These companies just keep trying to take more and more.

I would redeem the $15 discounts all the time ( I think they used to be $25). I think I used my points to buy a game as well. Disappointed to see rewards disappear. I dont see them bringing out a new program, its just seems the consumer always loses.

I genuinely have enjoyed the program. The rewards were good and while you often didn’t get points for a new releases due to the “quest” being added two weeks after launch (for some reason) it didn’t bug me too much. Sad to see it go but it also doesn’t change much. I usually buy physical whenever available (still refuse to buy or play Clair Obscur til physical copies come in), so stars wasn’t as kind to me as some.

Meanwhile, earning ms reward points. Redeeming them for game pass ultimate. Haven't paid for it in 3+ years. Also got a razer turret for half off with pts. Lifetime pts earned 718k pts. In its entirety stars gave me $10, and thats with me spending money.

Ignoring all events or missions, it was an essentially 2% back occasionally a good deal like a game or DLC for half off. Losing the 2% kinda sucks.

Honestly, I made £30-£50 a year of free PSN credit, so it will be a big miss. With Nintendo withdrawing its gold coins, Xbox is now the only place where I can get store credit towards games.

The program was nice, but having it locked to the app was where Sony went wrong. The replacement program (should there be one) should be accessible by both console and app.

What is PlayStation Stars?

@belmont You only get points if you're subscribed to PS+.

I will miss the discounts, but I won't miss PS Stars because I never cared about it. Like, the digital collectibles were scraps from a aborted NFT project (when those were all the craze). Sure, they were nice to look at for a second when you got them for free, but who would pay for them, as you couldn't do anything with them?

Used it all the time, and must have gotten over £50 back in credit. Massive dick move to get rid of it, but it's yet another method of enshitification, this is pretty much Sony's equivalent to the elimination of Nintendo's Gold Points.

Like Nintendo's gold points, it was good while it lasted if no dealbreaker to get by without. As for a replacement, there's no speculation getting us further than the company's blatant statement about currently working on a new reward system design does. For all we know, perhaps they just grew salty over all the free points we got by merely launching a game or two for all 30 seconds and may be considering an alternative along the lines of Xbox Live with the trophies being the primary source of such payouts. Time will tell. Me, I've already got a few wallet boosters from Stars and a few games consequently - which, considering the relatively small number of PS4 games I generally invest in (read: whatever I can't get more portably elsewhere), made for quite the ratio.

I got some free store credit with this while not really going out of my way for more than a few minutes so I'm sad to see this go

They made me feel like a star, and then they ripped it away just like that. And worse of all, Nintendo took away all of my gold coins. Now I need to find free gaming money on the streets.

Very bizarre move. I said this when they stopped rewarding us for the subscriptions, but having that little £5 credit every now and then actually made me grab a game off the PS Store, and always spend on top of that, when I probably wouldn’t have otherwise bought a thing. So I’ll probably end up buying less from them direct and sticking to physical copies. Hopefully they’ll bring something in its place…but as the poll says… not hopeful.

It was a good way to earn money on the long run, other than that no. Although need to get another 150 points to get £20 so time to purchase a cheap add on I don't need

Quite literally couldn't care less

I just cashed in £25 worth so have a nice balance now on my account, but I'd rather that digital games were priced more fairly in the first place instead of these fake discounts.

I feel the same with the Nintendo store. I suspect it's a way of circumventing their agreements with bricks and mortar stores, to not undercut the cost of their physical discs by selling digital games cheaper.

So they exploit a monopoly position to over-charge for digital games, keep the retailers sweet, then offer rebates via backdoor schemes like this.

Don't pee down my neck and tell me it's raining. This isn't free money or a bonus, it's simply Sony giving back money they ripped me off for in the first place.

I check it from time to time, so it's sad they will end it. I got some dicounts there that helped. Let's hope they bring something to substitute!

I find loyalty programs silly in general. Especially if you use multiple platforms.

The Steam points store is still the best implementation of this in my view (even if points are just for little icons and trinkets.)

I'm not really a playstation fan per se, I mostly just play single player gran turismo so it doesn't really affect me.

@EfYI I gave my opinion that most everything you said is a crock of bs. Why argue that opinion with you only for you to argue back? There's no point. I already gave my opinion on your opinions and there's no need for more. But if something like that is all it takes for you to be triggered to the point of putting someone on ignore, by all means, go for it. I mean, you acting like we were friends at some point and that my opinion mattered to you at some point... until now... is pretty weird. As if you were ever going to see me in the first place. Weird.

My opinion is that Sony is killing off the stars rewards program just to make it worse. I am sure numerous people remember when the digital PSN gift cards were suddenly unavailable? Likely this is what Sony wanted to actually do, but people complained too much so Sony was forced to bring back the PSN gift cards. Now Sony is ending the whole program but for some reason they are letting people keep their digital collectables, why? I suspect Sony plans to introduce the all new stars program with only digital collectables and no PSN digital gift cards.

@EfYI game pass is also a money pit and the reason that MS has to put its games across all platforms.

I liked it as a way to get something back on my digital purchases. The rewards are whack though, more expensive to redeem your points for the games than it is to redeem them for credit and then buy said game, even if it wasn't on sale.

Digital collectables were nice and all but it would have made a lot more sense for them to have integrated the whole thing into your main account you use on the ACTUAL console. Nobody could see the damn things making them almost completely worthless.

It's normal, I don't know who came up with the brilliant idea of ​​giving away 20 cents for buying an Elden Ring or something similar.

I had completely forgotten about the existence of this program.
As far as I know, it also never worked on a PlayStation nor the website. And I never felt the urge to install an unessessary app.

Also, it was much to obscure. Buying a 70€ product gives me "points" .. Usually companies use "points" instead of real currency for I hide the fact that it is worth nothing.
Those programs usually only exist, because you as a user should agree to some terms of service, which allows Sony to sell your data to ad companies.

They should do it like Bandai Namco and also release the physical copy with a code to exchange for points.