How to (Finally) Change Your Name on PlayStation 4
It’s time: Sony has finally announced that it will allow PlayStation 4 owners to change their User ID – the name you use when you play online games – starting today. It’s a long time coming, and gamers, especially those of us who have encountered the same pen since the creation of the PlayStation ID for the PlayStation 3, are grateful for it.
In order to get something that much coveted, you will have to delve pretty deeply into the PS4 menu. On the console, go to the Settings menu, select Account Management, then Account Information, then Profile, and finally Online ID. Pro tip: It’s actually much easier to change your ID through your PlayStation.com profile. To do this, log into your account, go to “PSN Profile” and click the “Change” button.
Sony will only let you change your account name once for free, so choose a good name in advance. After the first change, Sony will charge you $ 9.99 for each name change, or $ 4.99 if you subscribe to PlayStation Plus, Sony’s premium online service.
When you change your name, you will have the option to display your old ID next to the new one for 30 days, allowing other players to adapt to the change. You must make this decision when you change your name and cannot activate or deactivate until the end of the month. Personally, I would say that you should do it. You wouldn’t want your friends to end their relationship with you because they don’t know who you are, right? Plus it just seems like a polite thing to do.
Another interesting catch: you technically retain ownership of all your PSN ID names, so you can always revert to the old descriptor for free.
Okay, you know how to do this, but before you run away and change your name from XXXNaruto420GanjaStrikeInfiniteXXX to something more timeless , there are a few things we need to discuss. As it turns out, Sony hasn’t shied away from offering this feature for years, just to annoy: changing the name can lead to complications with individual games, including the loss of progress and in-game currency in some games.
Sony has a large, tiered list of PS4 games that have been screened for issues related to your name change. You should definitely check this before changing your ID, as it may affect what you are currently playing, or you might want to revisit in the future.
Potential problems are divided into two levels: “problems” and “critical problems”. Common issues can usually be fixed or annoying, but they won’t affect your gameplay much. Some issues, such as a game disconnecting your PSN account from your publisher ID, or resetting individual settings such as audio levels and controller mappings, can be reset. The worst thing that can happen is that your name can be removed from the leaderboard. Depending on the game and how well you played it, this can make a big difference, but it won’t interfere with your future play.
Critical issues are more confusing. Games on this list can reset your game progress, including any entry for in-game currency that you may have purchased with real money. Certain games may cause “irreversible game errors and data loss,” according to Sony. Sony recommends not changing your name if you plan on continuing to play these games. Judging by this description, neither do I.
It might be a trickier choice than you think: while this is a relatively small list, it includes some good games that have been given away temporarily via PlayStation Plus – I’m a big fan of Disc Jam – o it can be hard to say goodbye.
If you do decide to change your name and leave these games behind, I would recommend removing them from your console before changing your name, in the interests of absolute, 100% security. Nothing bad will happen if you have them on your console after the name change, but I know I would forget about the potential issue and open the game (s) on a whim if they were still there.