One of the biggest requests from gamers for the PlayStation Network was the ability to change your PlayStation ID. After years of asking Sony for the option, the platform maker finally decided to make the option possible, but there might be some problems with changing your PlayStation ID if you decide to make the change.
Digital Trends is reporting that there's a rather dangerous possibility you could lose a lot of your user data in the process of changing your PSN name. The site is reporting that some users who are in the beta program have reported that there are some issues with some games not accepting the change-over from the previous name you had.
So, what's the damage you're looking at? Well, for some games it means losing trophy support, for other games it means losing your saved data and gameplay options. In some cases it might mean losing everything and having to start from scratch, including the DLC that you purchased for the game. Yes, it's possible you could also lose all of your digital purchases for a software title that's attached to the PSN ID that you're changing.
This was made clear before as a warning for gamers looking to change their PSN ID. The issue is that the way the system is setup on Sony's end is not like the way Microsoft has it setup with the Xbox Live ecosystem where the user ID within the system is attached to a hash, and you can change the front-facing GamerTag to something else without worrying about losing any of your saved games, downloaded titles, or the DLC you've attached to the account or the games on the account.
In Sony's case, some of the games are tied directly to the username that you selected, which means that when it changes you could end up losing everything.
It's not all dire straits, though. Sony has been working with some of the publishers and developers to update the system as best it can to make the transition as user-friendly as possible.
You'll be able to change your PSN ID for free once update 6.10 is made available. However, all subsequent changes to your ID name will require a fee. Even PlayStation Plus users will not be able to change the ID for free. You'll have to pay out $5 for every additional name change if you're a PS Plus subscriber. Additionally, if you are not subscribed to PS Plus it will cost you $10, which is the same amount it costs to change your GamerTag on Xbox Live.
While this may have been a highly requested feature from many PlayStation gamers, one must question if the change is worth it if you end up losing all the DLC attached to a specific game or lose all your saved data, or multiplayer progress in titles like Borderlands 2 or Call of Duty?
I suppose this is why Sony is beta testing the feature before making it widely available, so that they can reduce as much user data loss as possible when a PSN user decides to change their username.
