PSN ID Changes Finally Happening
Sony has announced that the long awaited ability to change your PSN ID is finally on the horizon.
No longer will you be stuck with the name you thought was cool when you were younger or one with a bunch of random numbers at the end because you couldn't think of something else when your initial choice was already taken.
The feauture will be available first to members of the Playstation Preview Program who previously signed up to be part of PS4 softare beta tests.
You will be able to change your name as many times as you want with the first change being free and after that you will have to pay Sony for the feature. No indication of local pricing has been given but it will cost $9.99 to change your ID and $4.99 if you subscribe to Playstation Plus. So roughly R150 and R75 using current exchange rate, although it probably won't work out exactly like that.
Players will also have the option to display their old ID next to their new one so friends will be able to identify them, similar to what Steam already does if you change your display name.
Sony does mention that there might some issues with older games resulting from name changes:
This feature is compatible with PS4 games originally published after April 1, 2018, and a large majority of the most-played PS4 games that were released before this date. However, please note not all games and applications for PS4, PS3 and PS Vita systems are guaranteed to support the online ID change, and users may occasionally encounter issues or errors in certain games. If for any reason you experience issues after changing your ID, you can revert back to your original ID for free at any time (you will only be able to revert once during the preview program). Reverting back to an old ID will resolve most issues caused by the ID change. In addition, when this feature officially launches, a list of compatible games published before April 1, 2018, will be provided on PlayStation.com for reference before you make a change.
The beta for this feauture is scheduled to conclude at the end of November this year with the full rollout being planned for early 2019.
As someone who is stuck with a bunch of numbers at the end of their PSN ID this is great news. I cannot wait to finally be rid of them and start using a new ID that I can ensure will be unique to me. There's currently no indication of how this will affect people who use gamesharing to share their digital library with friends, if at all.