Sony is finally rolling out its name changing feature for PlayStation 4 owners

Sony began trialling its long-awaited name changing feature for PlayStation users last October, revealing that the first alteration would be free but thereafter would cost users.  To prepare PlayStation 4 players for its launch later today, Sony has listed an FAQ to communicate the ins and outs of its new system.

There’s no doubt that fans are excited for the ability to swap their embarrassing 12-year-old Online ID for something fresh that embodies who they are now, but Sony’s late arrival to the party presents a handful of problems. Testing revealed that some games don’t fully support the feature if they were originally published prior to April 1, 2018, as all subsequent titles were built using tools that support Online ID change.

That’s not to say that all games released before that date won’t display changed names, but that it’s impossible to address the extent of inconsistencies given how much testing would be required. Fortunately, Sony has released a list of games that the company has tested and urges players to keep this caveat in mind before taking the leap.

Unfortunately, changing names has also been reported to cause issues in rarer instances, with Sony warning players that Online IDs might only be visible to the user, saved data, leaderboard data, and progress towards Trophies might be lost and DLC might become inaccessible. At least 10 games including Little Big Planet 3 have been identified to cause critical issues, while Bloodborne, Warframe, Grand Theft Auto V and even The Last of Us are among the games affected by minor problems.

As previously revealed, the first change is free but alterations after that will cost $9.99 USD / CAD each time for general users and $4.99 USD/ CAD per change for PlayStation Plus members. Users that do decide to change their name can revert back to previous Online IDs as many times as they want, provided that they don’t violate the current Terms of Service.

To change a username, players will need to do so on their PlayStation 4 or via a web browser. On the console itself, the option is found under Settings > Account Management > Account Information > Profile > Online ID. Those wishing to use the web browser will need to sign into their PlayStation Network account and navigate to the PSN Profile on the left hand side, clicking the ‘edit’ function next to the Online ID.

Currently, the rollout is taking some time to reach certain users but Sony assures fans that it should be coming to “all PlayStation 4 owners” by later today.

KitGuru Says: I am in the market to change my Online ID, provided that Sony will allow my chosen moniker this time around. Will you be making use of your free name change when it finally goes live?

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