Sony has announced that, as of April 11th, you’ll finally be able to change your PlayStation ID from that cringe-inducing name you chose back in the day to something slightly more refined (or something even cringier, your choice).
The feature is being rolled out on both PlayStation 4 consoles and web browsers tomorrow. You can’t change your ID using your PlayStation 3 or PS Vita.
However, there’s one pretty big catch to this whole ID changing deal. Some games, including all PlayStation 3 and PS Vita games, may not be compatible with the ID changing feature.
The main issues related to this are:
- Your old ID name may still be visible to you and other players in certain games
- You may lose game progress including save data, leaderboard data, and trophy progress
- Some games might just straight up not work altogether
- You may lose content such as add-ons and virtual currency
If you do encounter these issues, Sony recommend that the best thing to do is revert back to your original PSN ID.
You can find lists here of games that have been certified to work with the name change, games that may have minor issues, and games that have critical issues (sorry to all the hardcore fans of Just Dance 2017 out there).
On the bright side, your first name change is completely free. All changes after then will cost $9.99/£7.99. PlayStation Plus members only have to pay $4.99/£3.99 for every subsequent change. You can change your ID and revert back to your old ones as many times as you like. Reverting back is completely free, too.
You’ll also have the option to display your old ID next to your new ID in your profile for 30 days, making it easier for your friends to work out who you are.
Source: PlayStation Blog.