Gamers discover best way to earn PlayStation Stars points

Sony's new PlayStation Stars loyalty program leaves out critical information on how to best earn points, but gamers have discovered specific point ratios.

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At first glance the PlayStation Stars program doesn't look great. The landing page shows players will get 50 points for completing a campaign to buy specific games. Some of these games, like NBA 2K23, are $69.99. Others, like inscription are $19.99. Sony says that PlayStation Plus subscribers will automatically earn PS Stars points for purchases made on the PS Store, but it doesn't tell you how much.

Gamers have discovered the ratio. Sony will reward 10 PS Stars points for every $1 that PlayStation Plus subscribers spend on games. So if you by NBA 2K 23 for $74 after tax, you'll earn 740 points plus the 50 points from completing the campaign objective.

It still takes a lot to actually redeem a free game. Right now gamers can trade in PS Stars points for five games at the following rates:

• The Quarry - 17,500 points (retail $69.99)
• Sekiro PS4 - 15,000 points (retail $59.99)
• Hades - 6,250 points (retail $24.99)
• Cult of the Lamb - 6,250 points (retail $24.99)
• It Takes Two - 10,000 points (retail $39.99)

The ratios are still high. Gamers have to spend $1,750 to unlock a single $69.99 game, for instance. That's about 24 full-priced games.

These are just rank 1 ratios. It's assumed that gamers will earn more PS Stars points as they rank up. You can level up your rank by buying games. The higher your rank, the more rewards and campaigns you'll unlock.

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Microsoft's rewards program isn't much better in specific regards. MS gives more rewards per dollar spent, 20 points per $1, but conversely doesn't offer free games. Instead you have to unlock gift cards. A $50 Microsoft gift card costs 50,000 points...which requires $2,500 spent.

The good news is that there's plenty of ways to earn MS rewards points, like taking quizzes, polls, and doing quests/objectives on Game Pass.

Oddly enough, Sony doesn't tell people how much they'll earn before they make a purchase. Gamers had figured this out after the fact.