At long last, Sony now lets gamers change their PlayStation Network ID — but with a number of caveats, as always. The feature was announced on Wednesday and went live later that night, which means players who didn't read the fine print got a rude awakening.
Some games, according to Sony, will have critical screw-ups because of the ID change, including the loss of progress or user-generated content, trophies, in-game currency, and others.
Games With Critical Issues
Sony has uploaded a list of games that are affected by changing one's PSN ID. The company also recommends users who have a game in the "Critical Issues" category to refrain from changing their name, especially if they wish to continue playing without losing entitlements and achievements. It is also possible to trigger permanent game errors or data loss just by changing one's ID. All games below will have one or more of the aforementioned issues:
• Disc Jam
• Just Dance 2017
• LittleBigPlanet 3
• MLB 14 The Show
• MLB The Show 16
• MLB The Show
• ONRUSH
• The Golf Club 2
• Worms Battlegrounds
How To Change Your PSN ID
Those who don't have games in the above category or don't care about encountering the listed errors can proceed to changing their PSN ID. Here's how:
First off, go to Settings, then to Account Information, Profile, and finally, a new category called Online ID should be there. Click "Accept" when a cautionary prompt pops up. Of course, it might be a good idea to back up game saves to PSN's cloud storage, too. After accepting those two screens, gamers will be taken to another page where they can actually change their PSN ID. Funnily enough, this screen also reminds the player how long they've had their old name.
The first name change is free. The second one is $9.99, so pick carefully. PlayStation Plus subscribers get a discount on additional changes, though, bringing it down to just $4.99.
The final part is confirming the change, and choosing whether to show one's old ID in parenthesis for the next 30 days or just the new name. Pick the former so friends don't get confused about who they're playing online with.
Voilà — it's done. Why it took Sony so long to allow this is anyone's guess, but at last, it's finally here. It's a relatively painless process, too, at least for those who don't have Critical Issues games. Sony fans should be pretty pleased right now.
