PlayStation’s new “digital collectibles” are definitely not NFTs
Enlarge / Sony has taken steps to allay hex-shaped NFT fears about its new "rewards" service. (credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment / Sam Machkovech)
On Thursday, Sony Interactive Entertainment posted a surprise announcement about a new service coming to PlayStation consoles. Most of the details about the new "PlayStation Stars" initiative, which resembles other gaming services' "rewards" perks, sound promising, but at Ars Technica, Sony's choice of a two-word phrase instantly put fear into our hearts: "digital collectibles."
Thankfully, members of the SIE PR team were quick to the draw with an email reply to allay our fears: No, this is not Sony's stab at NFTs.
They are not one-of-a-kind"The new service, slated to launch "later this year," will cost nothing to join and will exist outside the PlayStation Plus subscription family. PlayStation Stars, as vaguely described in Sony's Thursday announcement, revolves around a soup of connected concepts, but on its face, it basically resembles the Microsoft Rewards system in the modern Xbox console family. The TL;DR version: get digital rewards for playing video games.