Sony May Finally Allow PSN Name Changes

For reasons that remain unclear, Sony has never allowed anyone to change their PSN name. But now, a new survey making the rounds suggests that Sony may finally allow you to.

The website PushSquare has obtained a Sony survey that states that Sony has been "exploring the possibility of adding a feature to PSN that lets users change their ID." According to the survey, players would be able to change their PSN ID "multiple times" for free, though only once every six months. Under the proposed system, if you changed your name and wanted to revert to your original tag, you would have to get in touch with Sony's customer support team.

The survey, at least the information relayed by PushSquare, does not mention any details about whether or not more name changes would incur a fee, or what that fee would be. By comparison, Microsoft lets you change your Xbox Live Gamertag once for free, while additional changes incur a fee. Given that it has taken Sony so long to finally (maybe) let you change your PSN ID, it's nice that the company is apparently not planning to charge for this service.

Bear in mind that this survey is not binding, as a line states, "We can't be sure whether this feature will be added or not, but we can be sure your opinions on the matter will be heard."

At PlayStation Experience in December, PlayStation boss Shawn Layden said he hopes that by the next PlayStation Experience in 2018, he won't have to answer more questions about PSN name changes. The suggestion here is that the ability to change your PSN name may finally be available by that time; PSX is historically held in December.

Sony's explanation for why you cannot change your PSN name has bounced around a bit over the years. In 2014, Layden explained that it wasn't a technical issue keeping the feature from being implemented, but instead it came down to Sony's efforts to prevent trolling. In 2015, PlayStation's Shuhei Yoshida said Sony's engineers were looking into it but were unsure if it would ever be possible to deliver the feature.