Published , by Brittany Vincent
Published , by Brittany Vincent
Looking to change your PSN ID after all this time? Sony is finally going to allow this as of 2019, at long last. So if you've been dealing with an embarrassing name this whole time and have been aching to change it just like you can on Xbox Live, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, there is, as you might have suspected, a catch.
First, the details, as stated via the official PlayStation Blog. The PSN Online ID Change feature will go into effect as part of a beta for the PlayStation Preview Program first, and will be available to certain users who pre-registered as testers for PlayStation 4 software betas in the past. The preview program will allow you to change your online ID as much as you want. The first change is free, but if you decide to change it after that, it'll run you $9.99. PlayStation Plus members will pay $4.99.
Changing your ID means you'll have the option to show your old ID along with the new one, but if you decide not to show it, you cannot change this later. Here's the caveat: The feature is only going to be compatible with "most" PS4 games released after April 1, 2018 as well as many of the "most-played" PS4 games before that date. The official PlayStation Blog notes that many games for PS4, PS3 and Vita may not support the change and could in fact cause bugs and other issues.
If you change over and start seeing problems, you can revert for free at any time (and once during the preview), but there's no word of a refund for changing your name and having to revert. Luckily, there will be an official list of compatible games to check out before you go and change your ID, not that that really fixes the issue.
The preview program will conclude around November of this year, and the final version of the feature will be available in 2019, though Sony didn't offer a date in its official blog. Yes, this is great news and all, but it's hardly as great as we envisioned it – who wants to pay to invite potential bugs? We'll have to wait and see what happens before we pass judgment, though.