When Sony announced PlayStation Stars, gamers were thrilled, as earning rewards for playing games, purchasing digital titles, or collecting PlayStation Trophies sounds great on paper. Unfortunately, though PlayStation Stars does deliver on those promises, it is lacking in a few key ways. As Sony works to get more players into the program and off the wait list, and continues to fix bugs like the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 rewards points not showing up as intended, it should also aim to make some key improvements to the system.
With PlayStation Stars being such a young program, it is no surprise that there have been some growing pains, and Sony can take its time making fan-requested improvements. Virtually every area of the service, from the PlayStation Stars Display Case and collectibles to the Campaigns the collectibles are connected to, could be made better. Hopefully, this happens, as the program has a lot of untapped potential.
Adding The Collectibles Case To PS5 Consoles
Right now, one of the biggest things that is needed is a Display Case for consoles. Earning collectibles in PlayStation Stars becomes a lot less fun once players realize that almost nobody will be seeing their collections, as the Display Case for the rewards is exclusive to the PlayStation mobile app. Very few players will be looking over their friends’ PSN profiles through this application, so making the display case viewable through the PS5 would make a massive difference. With PlayStation’s Accolades system on the way out, Sony will have a gap to fill on profile pages, allowing the Display Case to slot in perfectly.
Creating Better PlayStation Stars Campaigns
Aside from PlayStation Stars’ Display Case being viewable outside the mobile app, Sony needs to make some stronger campaigns available. In its current form, PlayStation Stars overuses the bland objective of “play any PS4 or PS5 game” for its special campaigns. Further, when it does do something unique, it overdoes it, like asking players to enter into four different five-minute remote play sessions. The Hit Play/1994 challenge is another example of this, as what should have been a fun task forced players to solve six puzzles (and make space for six games) instead of just one, which proved problematic.
PlayStation’s Trophy system is severely underused within PlayStation Stars as well, as its only real purpose is to work as another requirement for leveling up. This is a shame, as one of the examples Sony used to sell fans on the program was a hypothetical task that unlocked a collectible for players who earned a specific Trophy in a game. Sony could add tasks like earning 10 golds in two weeks, 3 Platinums in a month, and so on, with digital collectible versions of PlayStation’s Trophies or rewards points serving as options for rewards.
Providing More Exciting PlayStation Stars Collectibles
Lastly, and most importantly, Sony needs to start leaning into its massive lineup of iconic exclusives with its digital collectibles. While it is fun to see Ape Escape getting some love through its numerous items, and Astro’s continued rise in prominence is welcome, they should only be the tip of the iceberg. PlayStation has provided several franchises that fans adore, and it is odd that they have not yet had a big presence within PlayStation Stars.
Statues of Kratos and Atreus, a Precursor Orb from Jak and Daxter, Nathan Drake’s journal - the possibilities for more varied collectibles are nearly endless. Any weapon from Ratchet and Clank would make for a good addition, while a helmet from one of Killzone’s Helghast could serve as another cool item. It is truly odd seeing the Cinnasnail from Bugsnax in PlayStation Stars before dozens of items based on Sackboy and LittleBigPlanet, so hopefully Sony will start to embrace its catalog of incredible games with future campaigns. Returnal’s astronaut figure is a step in the right direction, so hopefully it is one of many PlayStation Stars items based on Sony’s major first party content.