From today you can finally change your PSN name

 
After the news first being reported in Autumn 2018, it’s now finally possible for PlayStation Network users to change their username online.

It’s been possible to change your name or ID on other platforms such as Xbox Live for a long time, but until today PlayStation Network users have been stuck with whatever name they initially chose when they first logged into the online PlayStation service.

Any adult Playstation Network users can change their ID for free for the first time, but any subsequent changes will cost £8 each time for regular users, and PlayStation Plus users get a discount for additional changes to £4 each time.

Sony have released a short walkthrough video (see above) of the process to change a PlayStation Network ID. A new option has been added in the Settings section of the PlayStation Home Screen. From there users can change their ID in the new option in the same place as they can change their true name and other details.

According to Sony not all PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita games will support the new PlayStation Network IDs. This could be an issue because titles are no longer fully supported by developers, or Sony won’t support games of a certain age.

Playstation Network users have been keen to change their PSN ID since the PlayStation 3 launched. It was previously only possible to change it by opening a new account, which would result in the user losing all of the games they had purchased with their original ID.

Since the PlayStation 3 came out in 2006 many of the gamers who were using it over 10 years ago have matured, and as a result want a more mature PSN ID. Even today it’s possible to log into an online game and see some of the most ridiculous usernames with random letters and numbers, before and/or after the core name, usually because the original name was taken.

This is another big step forward for Sony in terms of responding to the wider gaming community’s needs. The first came with the eventual implementation of cross-platform gaming on Fortnite, and now with the ability to change a username.