PS Stars was by no means the best rewards program there’s ever been, but at least there was an obvious benefit to investing your time into it. You could earn PS Store credit, and now Sony is in the process of killing it off. Earlier this week, the platform holder confirmed a new rewards system in Franchise Rewards — and the news hasn’t particularly gone down well.
Franchise Rewards is geared around physical merchandise that you gain access to by unlocking specific Trophies in the games the merch is tied to. The idea is you reward the fans who have invested all the time to complete the campaign or unlock the Platinum Trophy. However, is it really a reward if you have to pay for it?
Having earned the Trophies in question, it costs $30 for the t-shirt and $25 for the special pin — this is before shipping, which is reported to add as much as $13 to the overall cost.
In response, many PlayStation fans have argued this isn’t really a “rewards” program at all, as you are essentially gaining access to an exclusive store that still requires you to pay a good amount of money. On both Push Square and sites such as Reddit, fans have voiced their disappointment with the program.
From left to right: the $30 t-shirt and the $25 pin.
Our comments section skewed overwhelmingly negative. bassjas12 said: “This isn’t an improvement. With PS Stars I could earn $5 gift cards to spend towards things I wanted. Now I get the privilege of earning the ability to give them money for merch. Yay! I’m being ‘rewarded’. Seems like we are funding a reward system for Sony, not the other way around.”
JonnyAces agreed and made a good point surrounding discounts for Platinum Trophy owners: “I mean the pin does look pretty neat. But not a fan of how they are marketing it as ‘rewards’. It just feels like they are gatekeeping merch. Would have been a better spin if they just released the merch to buy and you can grab a discount on them if you have completed the game and/or platinumed it. Would have made it look better in my eyes at least.”
The response wasn’t all bad, however, as Reddit comments like one from defenseform appreciates the pin and the t-shirt:
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How do you feel about Franchise Rewards, a few days removed from the announcement? Have you come around on the idea, or do you still think it’s poor? Place a vote in our poll and share your thoughts in the comments below.
What do you think of PlayStation’s new rewards program? (508 votes)
I think it’s a great idea, I’ll buy a few things2%It’s a good idea overall4%It’s okay, but could be better7%I don’t think it’s very good19%I think it’s terrible67%Other (let us know in the comments)2%