Sony Announces the PSN Online ID Change Feature

Looks like PlayStation players are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in regards to changing their PSN names, as it has been formally announced by Sony via its PlayStation Blog that the PSN Online ID change feature is entering the PlayStation Preview Program "soon."

How soon? Well, while we don't know for sure, the feature is scheduled to conclude at the end of November 2018. A complete rollout to the rest of the players will be available come early 2019.

Is there any cost associated with it? Like Microsoft's Gamertag change, the PSN ID change will have a price tag.

For those who participate in the preview program (it will be available to select users that have pre-registered as testers for previous PS4 software betas), the first change is free, but it will cost $9.99 USD/CAD after the first change. For PlayStation Plus members, it will be $4.99 USD/CAD after the first change.

You can change your online ID via the Settings menu or your Profile Page on the PlayStation 4.

Additionally, when you change your online ID, you will be able to select whether or not you would like to display your previous ID alongside your new ID so that your friends will be able to recognize you. However, THIS CHANGE IS PERMANENT, so after you select the display setting, you cannot revert the change.

Of course, that is just one caveat.

The second one and the more important one (in my opinion) is that this feature is compatible with all PlayStation 4 games that have been originally published after April 1, 2018. The feature is also compatible with the vast majority of the most popular PlayStation 4 games that were released before that date.

What about PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita? Well, it isn't completely guaranteed. Furthermore, users may occasionally experience errors and other issues in particular games. If you experience these issues, you'll be able to change your ID back at no cost.