PlayStation’s new loyalty program launches in the US next week

Sony’s new PlayStation Stars loyalty program will launch in North and South America on October 5th, the company announced on Wednesday. The new program will let PlayStation fans earn rewards like points and digital collectibles by doing things like playing a game or earning certain trophies.

Sony has also spelled out some of the finer details of the program, which broadly line up with information we’ve heard before. The service is free to join with an adult PlayStation Network account, and while players can earn some benefits if they are a PlayStation Plus member, you don’t need to subscribe to PlayStation Plus to join Stars. The “full PlayStation Stars experience” will be available via the PlayStation mobile app but not consoles to start; Sony said in September that Stars would expand to consoles “in the future.”

You’ll be able to earn both loyalty points and digital collectibles via PlayStation Stars. Points will be able to be redeemed for things like PSN funds and certain PlayStation Store items. The collectibles will include things like digital versions of characters and devices from PlayStation’s history, and you’ll be able to display them in a case in the PlayStation app.

Some of the collectibles will be “ultra-rare”; while it’s unclear exactly what it will take to get those, Sony’s blog post says that being the first to get a platinum trophy in certain games as one Stars campaign that’s in the works. But the company stresses that the collectibles are not one of a kind, do not “leverage blockchain technology,” and can’t be resold or traded, so these won’t be PlayStation NFTs, thank goodness.

PlayStation Stars is beginning to roll out now in Asia (including Japan) and will launch in Europe and Australia on October 13th.