Sony has started sending emails to current PS Plus subscribers to inform them of changes to the PlayStation Stars terms and conditions. If you don’t remember what PS Stars is, I can’t blame you, as it doesn’t tend to get a lot of attention, even from Sony. In fact, it was offline for a month earlier this year. Basically, it’s a rewards program where you earn points by making purchases and completing small tasks, which can be redeemed for games, gift cards, and more. This is actually pretty good considering you don’t have to do anything special or go out of your way to earn points.
It’s a shame that Sony decided to make PS Stars a little less impressive. Among the terms and conditions that must be accepted or your PS Stars account will be terminated, Sony revealed that points will no longer be earned through subscription payments (initial or recurring). In other words, your monthly or annual PS Plus Extra or Premium subscription will no longer earn any PS Stars points.
This is annoying, because while subs may not earn you a ton of points, they’re still a solid way to build up your Stars bank account without having to do anything.
Additionally, any points you earn will now expire 12 months after the points appear on your account. You’ll probably use the points within that time frame, but if you’re hoping to hoard some over a long period of time – maybe because you don’t earn many points anyway and want to redeem them for one of the full games available Rewards Tab – That’s too bad.
To be honest, these are some baffling decisions from Sony. The PS Stars rewards program is already worse than Xbox Rewards and Nintendo’s eshop coins, but Sony seems determined to undermine it further. What exactly is the point of letting points expire? Are they worried about people hoarding them for years and then cashing them out like a dragon’s treasure? Taking away the ability to earn points through subscription renewal is ridiculous.
Speaking of which, why does PS Stars still exist? You still can’t even access it from the console. Instead, you have to use the mobile app, which is probably why the vast majority of gamers don’t even know about PS Stars.
In the end, this isn’t a big deal. It only affects a very small number of people, but even then, it doesn’t ruin their day. But this seems to prove once again that we can’t have nice things.
