The PlayStation Stars loyalty program is at risk of losing its appeal in the coming weeks. Sony Interactive Entertainment is warning PS5 and PS4 players of the upcoming changes.
After a long month-long outage, PlayStation Stars was restored last July. This loyalty program allows you to earn points by playing or making purchases on the PS Store. A feature appreciated within the community since the points earned can be exchanged for full games. This therefore requires a certain investment, but Sony announces that it will tighten the screw starting next October.
PlayStation Stars soon to be less advantageous
A new Astro Bot campaign allows you to earn PlayStation Stars bonus points when you pre-order. That’s always something, and you have to take advantage of it, because it won’t be the same in a few weeks. In the last few hours, Sony has been sending emails to members to warn them of the upcoming conditions of use of the PS Stars program. We received it ourselves as you can see with the screenshot below. And it’s not good news for PS5 and PS4 players.
The new PlayStation Stars terms of use, which will come into effect on October 24, 2024, will establish a limit on your points earned. Those earned from this date will expire within 12 months, starting from the end of the month in which they are visible in your PS Stars account. To avoid putting off the program’s members too much, Sony is making a slight gesture by keeping the expiration of points earned before October 24 at 24 months. But there is a second modification that puts the consumer at an even greater disadvantage.
Starting March 1, 2025, Sony will review “the definition of eligible purchases to exclude all subscription payments made on the PlayStation Store”. What’s behind it? When you go to subscribe or renew PS Plus or other subscription, there will be no more PlayStation Stars points offered.
Mandatory changes to maintain access to PS Stars
This has obviously been poorly received by PS5 and PS4 players and these new changes are already getting on their nerves. “Not giving points for PS+ subscriptions is stupid”; “This is really bullshit! I wish they would implement a system to collect points with physical games, like Nintendo does.”; “Greed at its best”; “This is really crappy” can be read on the Web. And it is all the more annoying that Sony is forcing PlayStation Stars users to accept these modifications.
And what happens if you refuse these new conditions? Your membership in the PS Stars loyalty program will be automatically terminated. “Starting October 24, 2024, please log in to PlayStation Stars on the PlayStation App or online. You will then be asked to review and accept the updated Terms of Service in order to remain a member of PlayStation Stars or decline them and therefore cancel your PlayStation Stars membership. If you do not make a selection, your membership will be considered cancelled until you accept the updated Terms of Service.”. You will then lose access to the program and all related benefits, including PlayStation Stars points earned through campaigns or purchases.
Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment.
