Sony’s PlayStation Stars rewards program has had its deepest secret tier leaked.
As Sony has officially announced it, there are four tiers to the PlayStation Stars program, with each tier representing a larger value. However, a leak came out on reddit revealing that Sony has also created a secret fifth tier, with the very specific words “Invite only to Diamond Level.” The leak also reveals that the lucky players who get into the tier early will get a Level 5 Diorama – Bots Don’t Breathe collectible. This collectible features characters from Team Asobi’s games, particularly Astro Bot.
The company has yet to reveal this secret tier, nor have they responded to the leak.
When we had previously covered this program, we had noted that the digital collectibles are not NFTs, and that you can trade in the expected reward of digital collectibles, in favor of loyalty points, that PlayStation fans can use to buy games and other content.
In theory, the program shouldn’t involve any direct involvement with real money. With that in mind, it seems unlikely that this Diamond Tier is something that’s gated behind some financial incentive. The first four tiers seem to mainly be about earning your way up through the tiers.
So, there’s speculation that this tier is for various VIPs. This could include people who actually work in the business of making video games, but also video game press people, as well as influencers such as YouTubers and Tiktokkers. For these people, Sony’s incentive to give them some special content is simply to get in their good graces so that they can help get the word out on all good things Sony.
But it was interesting that its ranking above the other tiers also suggest that it is some kind of level skip for the PlayStation Stars program itself. Is it possible that this tier exists for the purpose of being given away, if you stayed loyal to PlayStation? Does it also mean ordinary, non celebrity gamers could be given a way into this program? For example, for people who win contests, they could be dangling the possibility of jumping ahead of their friends in meeting the goals to enter the higher tiers.
Also interesting is the notion that the first four tiers were not the final number of tiers that would be added in. It really may be the case that Sony had planned it for a substantial number of members in the program to all level up to the same tier every time. Those ultra loyal PlayStation fans would feel rewarded that they all leveled up at the same time, and of course, if Sony adds even more tiers down the line, those fans would be in front of the line.
Given the rewards program itself is uncharted territory for the company, we won’t get full closure on this incident until Sony decides to spill the beans themselves.
Source: Techradar
