Don’t get your hopes up too much, but it looks like there is renewed hope that PlayStation Network users will finally be able to change their names. This comes from Unreal Engine 4 patch notes that mention that the PS4 SDK has been updated to version 4.008.061. One of the new features of the software development kit, which was spotted by NeoGAF user Kirbasin, is that users can be identified by their account ID instead of their online name.
Here’s what the patch notes say:
Refactored the PlayStation 4 Online Subsystem engine plugin to support PlayStation 4 SDK version 4.008.061.
Deprecated the use of “Sce Np Online Id,” replacing it with “Sce Np Account Id,” as per Sony’s recommendation. Online users are now exclusively identified by their “Sce Np Account Id.”
Simplified the handling of unique net IDs across the PS4 online subsystem.
Switched from “Np Toolkit” to “Np Toolkit2,” to support the new APIs which work with “Sce Np Account Id.”
Added asynchronous name resolution to convert between “Sce Np Online Id” and “Sce Np Account Id,” using Sony’s ID mapper web interface.
For PlayStation 4 online users, the “To String” and “Get Bytes” functions in “Unique Net Id” now return the user’s “Sce Np Account Id.”
Previously these functions returned the user’s “Sce Np Online Id.” Any custom online code or services backend will need to handle identifying users by their “Sce Np Account Id,” as according to Sony’s recommendations.
If required, the “Sce Np Online Id” for local users and friends can be obtained via the “Get Display Name” interface in “Online User.”
This has naturally led to speculation that a name change feature could finally be coming in the near future. While I do hope that happens for the everyone who bracketed their username with “xX,” Sony has insisted that isn’t possible. This might be a workaround, though, as if games start using an account ID instead of their username then that could possibly solve the issue.
Only time will tell if this will actually lead to a change.
If it becomes possible to change PSN account names, will you be changing your name? Let us know in the comments below.
