Imagine this: You’re a proud owner of a shiny PlayStation 5, and you’ve just discovered Sony’s quirky little program called PlayStation Stars. It’s a bit out there, even for Sony. This program lets you rack up coins to snag games on PSN and collect virtual figurines that you can admire in the PlayStation app. But here’s the kicker: it’s been on the fritz since the start of June.
Now, if you’re like most folks, you might be scratching your head, wondering, “What on earth is PlayStation Stars?” Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Many PlayStation players are in the same boat. To jog your memory, PlayStation Stars is a revamped version of PlayStation Rewards that Sony rolled out in 2022. It offered players the chance to earn coins by buying games or completing “campaigns” that dared them to play certain types of games. In return, they’d receive unique collectibles to display on a virtual bookshelf, featuring everything from nostalgic nods to PlayStation’s past to cool branded tie-ins like Spider-Man Adidas.
Despite its quirks, PlayStation Stars was a neat way to get a bit of cash back that could eventually add up. But things started going south around June 6. When players tried to access PlayStation Stars through a tiny icon on the PlayStation mobile app’s home screen, they hit a wall. Instead of their beloved program, they were met with an error message: “PlayStation Stars is currently experiencing issues. Our engineers are aware of the issue and working on a solution.”
The timing couldn’t have been worse. Sony was in the middle of running a slew of PlayStation Stars promotions alongside its mid-year Play Days sale event. This meant there were exclusive collectibles and awards up for grabs, but only if you bought and played certain games during the event. PlayStation Support assured users they’d still rack up points and collectibles while the program was down, but they wouldn’t be able to see any of it, let alone keep track of what was still up for grabs.
Fast forward 25 days, and PlayStation Stars is still on the blink. As users on the PlayStation Stars subreddit have pointed out, this outage has now outlasted the infamous 23-day PSN outage in 2011, which was caused by an unprecedented hack. Back then, PS3 players were left in the lurch, unable to play games online, buy them digitally, or use any of the console’s social features. When service finally resumed, Sony made amends by gifting players free games and a month of PS Plus.
Now, PlayStation Stars isn’t on the same level as PSN. It wasn’t hacked, it doesn’t cost a dime, and it’s used by far fewer people. So, its outage isn’t exactly a scandal. But it’s definitely odd, and Sony has yet to shed light on what’s causing the problem or when the rewards program will be back in action. So, for now, PlayStation Stars remains a mystery wrapped in an enigma.
