Over the past fortnight, Sony has been commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the PlayStation Store with a host of giveaways, digital discounts and more. But a new report spotted by NeoGAF (via VG247) hints that a much more enticing update could be in the pipeline: the ability to change your PSN account name.
As spotted by NeoGAF user Kirbasin, patch notes for a recent update to Unreal Engine 4 reveal that the PlayStation 4 SDK (Software Development Kit) has been updated to version 4.008.061. Now, you may be asking how this bears any connection to the PlayStation Network; after all, these incremental changes are rolled out all the time.
However, buried in those patch notes was a hint that Sony may soon allow users to be identified by their account ID, as opposed to their Online ID. Is the platform-holder on the verge of implementing some form of name change feature? It’s too soon to tell, and keep in mind that the update those patch notes are referring to could be for something else entirely.
One way or another, it’s the first tangible sign of progress in some time. But will it bring about the change that PlayStation users so crave? Here’s the post in full:
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.”
Tell us, do you believe the ability to change your PSN account name is finally on the horizon? Drop your thoughts below.
