You don’t always need a PlayStation Plus subscription (at any tier) to download free games from PlayStation Store, and you don’t always have to think in terms of free-to-play titles.

For a little over a month, Sony took a break from its loyalty program, as PlayStation Stars was unavailable for the month of June. It’s a free program that allows you to earn points that can be converted into redeemable credits in the PlayStation Store, as well as digital collectibles that can be earned with points. The latter can then be displayed on a shelf in the PlayStation mobile app. Points can be earned by completing simple tasks such as the latest PlayStation Plus titles (one of July’s Essential Games was mentioned earlier in the day), earning trophies, or simply buying games or DLC from PlayStation Store.

It wasn’t until weeks later that Sony admitted that PlayStation Stars had been shut down, and gamers didn’t really know why, but the stargazing has come to an end as the program is slowly being relaunched in more regions. If you tap the PlayStation Stars logo in the app or visit the program’s website, you’ll see this message: “PlayStation Stars will be returning soon in a phased regional rollout. Thank you for your patience and we look forward to seeing you again”.

Sony has not announced any dates for the western relaunch, but there are reports from several regions in Asia that PlayStation Stars has been made available again. The loyalty program has four levels. The second level can be reached by purchasing a full game from the PlayStation Store or by earning a relatively rare trophy. The third tier requires the purchase of two full games and 32 of the rare trophies instead of one, which is a significant leap. The fourth level requires the purchase of four games and 128 trophies.

But why is Sony not saying much about this program? Could it be that there is not much interest in this program, just like with PlayStation VR2, or maybe they are not releasing figures because of the low sales?

Source: Gamingbible, Sony