PSN name changes launch today
PS4 owners may change their names once for free, but may experience issues in a number of popular games
Today, Sony launched the ability for users to change their PSN names, a feature previously announced last October.
As was originally presented, the service allows PS4 users to change their handle either through their PS4 or web browser by signing into PSN on the official website. This can be done once for free; following that, it costs $10 per change or $5 for PlayStation Plus subscribers.
Additionally, an option is available to display the former name next to the new name so friends can recognize one another for 30 days following the change, but the option must be chosen upon the name change and cannot be toggled on or off afterward. There is also an option to revert back to a former ID for free at any time.
However, a new issue has presented itself since the service was announced. Originally, Sony noted that the name change feature would not necessarily be supported by games published prior to April 1, 2018. At the time, Sony said users may encounter issues with games older than this date if they changed their ID, but that reverting back to their original name would solve "most" issues.
Now, Sony says even games published after April 1 of last year may still have issues.
"We do want to take this opportunity to clarify one point - as a result of the preview program, we've found an instance where a game did not fully support the feature, even though it was originally published after April 1, 2018, contrary to what we mentioned in our original announcement," reads the official blog post. "All PS4 games originally published on or after April 1, 2018 have been developed to support the online ID change feature. However, since they have not all been specifically tested with the feature, we cannot guarantee that they will support it."
According to a page on Sony's website, issues users may run into with games that do not fully support the name change feature include loss of access to content (including paid-for content), loss of progress or save data, the old PSN ID being visible to other players or the user. In addition, "Parts of those games might not function properly, both online and offline," and users may experience "permanent game issues" that cannot be fixed by reverting back to the old ID.
Sony has published a list of titles with known issues separated into "critical" and the less-severe "identified" issues. The critical issues list includes titles such as LittleBigPlanet 3, Everybody's Golf, MLB The Show 14, 15, and 16, and Just Dance 2017. Other games with issues identified include popular titles such as Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Bloodborne, Dark Souls II and III, FIFA 17, Grand Theft Auto V, MLB The Show 17, NBA 2K19, Titanfall 2, and Uncharted 4.