NEW YORK, April 11 — PlayStation users will be able to change their network ID names from today, though some restrictions apply.
Twelve years and five months after the launch of the PlayStation Network, PlayStation users will be able to change their online names for the first time.
From today onwards, PSN Online IDs can be changed via the PlayStation 4’s account management settings or by editing them through the PlayStation Network website.
The process is free the first time a change is put through; subsequent name changes command a fee of US$9.99 (RM41.11), or US$US4.99 for members of the PlayStation Plus subscription scheme, which confers access to online multiplayer, a rotation of free games, and PSN Store discounts.
However, there are several exceptions.
Notably, new names will only show up in PlayStation games published in April 2018 or afterwards, due to a system-level change enabling the new feature.
Changing a PSN ID won’t work from the older PlayStation 3 or Vita consoles, neither will PS3 or Vita games show new names at all, while child accounts can’t have their names changed either.
There are also at least 10 games that have so-called “critical issues” with PSN ID changes, causing loss of in-game currency, progress, or user-generated content (per playstation.com/en-us/network/onlineid/change).
Therefore, PSN users that change their ID are being urged not to play Disc Jam, Everybody’s Golf, Just Dance 2017, LittleBigPlanet 3, MLB The Show 14, 15 and 16, Onrush, The Golf Club 2 and Worms Battlegrounds.
Another 34 titles have non-critical issues, including hits like Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Bloodborne, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Dark Souls II and III, FIFA 17, Grand Theft Auto V, PlayStation VR Worlds, The Last of Us Remastered, Uncharted 4, Uno and Warframe.
PSN users can choose to have their old ID displayed next to their new one for 30 days, though they have to select the option when putting through the name change; the feature helps people on their friends list more easily identify them.
All that said, it’s also possible to change back to an old ID name. Doing so is free but is not as rapid, as it requires the intervention of PlayStation Support. This is possible because old names won’t be made available to anyone else but remain associated with the same account behind the scenes. — AFP-Relaxnews
