Why PlayStation will offer digital collectibles but “definitely not NFTs”

Non-fungible tokens (NFT) have taken the world by storm. In less than a year since they became mainstream assets, all major companies have tried to implement them in their sector. If there is one industry where these digital assets are matched, it is the gaming industry.

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Major players in the gaming sector, such as Ubisoft, Electronic Arts (EA) and others, have tried to introduce NFTs in their products. However, the players have responded with criticism and have rejected these attempts.

Now it seems that Sony PlayStation is aiming for a different approach. According to a report by The Washington Post, the company announced a loyalty program called PlayStation Stars.

The program will be lunch at some point during 2022 with plans to expand to America, Europe and Asia. Grace Chen, vice president of network advertising at the company, said the following about Sony’s new revenue program:

We really feel that this is just the best time to launch this type of program, given that we have the healthiest player base, PlayStation 5 is a huge success, and we really wanted to do something that can honor and celebrate PlayStation’s history, and now is the best time to do it.

Chen said the program is not aimed at competing with gaming subscription services. In step, the leader emphasized the need to reward new and knowledgeable players. Chen added:

It is beneficial for all players. Of course, for gamers who have been with PlayStation for a long time and have been on this gaming journey with us, we want to be able to recognize and reward them in different ways, but there will be many new aspects of this program customers will like as well.

PlayStation wants to reward loyalty, but without NFTs

Loyalty is becoming more relevant for companies trying to switch to a subscription-based service. The report quotes an expert from the New York University Stern School of Business as arguing that companies need to encourage their players to “check in regularly” and “improve storage”.

This is especially true under the current macroeconomic outlook with high inflation and lower spending on video games. Matthew Ball, former head of strategy for Amazon Studios, shared the following chart of US consumer spending in the sector.

As the chart shows, people have cut back on video game time, probably because they can afford fewer games and because COVID-19 restrictions have loosened. Thus, PlayStation is taking an important step.

Chen confirmed that the company will provide its users with digital collectibles, such as video game characters and other items from popular franchises. However, the company manager confirmed that these assets will not be supported by blockchain technology:

These are definitely not NFTs. Definitely not. You can not exchange them or sell them. It does not utilize blockchain technologies and definitely not NFTs.

The crypto community responded to this announcement by opposing the approach used by Sony PlayStation. Aleksander Leonard Larsen, COO and co-founder of the popular NFT-based game Axie Infinity claimed players do not really want to “own” these collectibles.

Other users pointed out that the purpose of a digital collectible is to give players ownership of a unique item. In this way, they questioned the success of the program.

PlayStation is not the only company to advertise NFT-like products without calling them NFTs. This is because of the hostility shown by some of their users when they look at these digital assets as a way to implement microtransactions.

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At the time of writing, the ETH price is trading at $ 1,480 with a 10% profit on the 4-hour chart.