Reaction: PS stars are late but there is plenty of room for improvement

The console scene is changing. While PS5 – Despite all the inventory issues caused by the epidemic – Still one of the quick sell formats everHowever, the so-called “network effect” that defined previous generations is eroding. with intersection Its popularity is rising across many of the biggest franchises, including FIFA And the Call of dutyThere is less reason to own the same brand as your friends. Moreover, strong competition from both Microsoft and Nintendo means that there are more viable alternatives to PlayStation, there may have been before.

None of this is to belittle Sony’s efforts, of course, it’s just a fact – the manufacturer has to adapt and work a little harder to keep its customers loyal. This is the place PS . stars Comes, of course: the long-awaited retention scheme that can be joined for free and tries to “manipulate” the entire ecosystem. After launching the service last week in North America and several days ago in Europe, it’s early days for the service, but it’s a welcome addition nonetheless.

Many will, of course, refer to the established charts from both Microsoft and Nintendo and use them to point out the shortcomings here. But it’s important to stress the point above: We haven’t started a month into this program yet, and we’d like to think Sony has a roadmap to improving its overall offering now that it’s dipped its toes into the water. However, to deal with the mighty stinking elephant peeking over our shoulder: No, this loyalty scheme no Strongly what the competition offers. But that doesn’t make it worthless.

Currently limited to PS . appWith local support for PS5 promised soon, the main feature here is the fact that PS Plus Members can earn points on every purchase. We tested it, and it doesn’t really matter what you spend on me – Whether it’s games, subscriptions, DLC, or microtransactions – you’ll earn ten points for every dollar spent. (Or the equivalent in your currency of course.) You’d be really surprised how fast it increases if you’re big PS . Store user; Somehow, we’ve already collected over 300 points, without even actually trying. scary!

Of course, the advantage here is that these points can then be traded in for PS Store credit. It’s a shame that you can only “buy” categories of wallet shipments; We think the Nintendo format, where you can use your coins whenever you save a few pennies, is the best. But with that, until this month you had nothing Back on your PS Store purchases, and now you get about a 4% return. See, it might not be so far What you want, but as big spenders on PlayStation we certainly won’t take it, which was the case just a couple of weeks ago. I did.

There are other ways to earn points, and we believe they will multiply as the service matures. For example, if you purchase one of the existing PS Store selections, you can get an additional 50 points in addition to cashback as described above. Obviously, this will become Sony’s way of incentivizing purchases, but again, if you plan to buy, for example, encryption Anyway – well, why not take the bonus up front? As noted above, the points add up quickly.

Maybe the difference here is digital collectibles. This is actually a surprisingly well rendered diorama that includes popular PlayStation products and even characters. The choice, so far, depends heavily on monkey escape — and it’s an interesting launch option, but we’re sure the likes of Aloy, Kratos, and others will follow. These are actually surprisingly well carved. We love the PS1’s T-Rex tech demo, which catches Sly Cooper The staff for a reason. It’s a neat little Easter egg for longtime PlayStation fans.

In fact, this whole system reminds us of what trophies were like supposed to be. Veterans among you might remember the PS3’s Halcyon days, when Sony was promoting Home PS You promised that you would be able to display your prizes in the space of your personal apartment. Obviously this never came to fruition, it was a pie in the sky idea (although we’re sure the manufacturer tried it in-house), but you actually get a little display case on the PS app and platform the holder has promised they’ll integrate this In PS5 profiles move forward. So, that’s pretty cool, isn’t it?

But we think the campaigns themselves can be a little more creative. So far, it’s mostly about playing games, although Heat Play / 1994 One works a bit like a test. We can’t help but think how much electricity and bandwidth is being consumed by people who download 75GB games in order to unlock a virtual machine. chord instrumentHowever, we assume that this is all positive for Sony’s monthly active user stats, and as we have indicated, this will be a huge driver of the initiative being initially in place.

Obviously, as mentioned earlier, there is room for improvement here. Better challenges and more significant rewards is a must. But as we’ve indicated several times, we finally got cashback on our PS Store purchases. Do we wish it was more? Sure – but we’ll take it Something During nothing. Digital collectibles, however useless they may be, are just a nice little cake on the cake from where we’re sitting. So PS Stars: It’s not really star yet, right? More like a supporting actor from a canceled Netflix show. But see, it’s a welcome addition and there’s still plenty of time for this feature to grow.

If you want to get started, you can refer to PS stars guide For more information, including how to complete several campaigns. Of course, we’d also love to hear your opinions about the loyalty program, and how you think it should improve. Share your thoughts in the comments section below.