Sony will let you change your PSN ID early 2019

You can change your PSN ID from early 2019, Sony has announced.

A beta of the feature will begin testing soon, Sony said. This is part of the PlayStation Preview Program, and is available to select users who've pre-registered as testers for previous PlayStation 4 system software betas.

While during the preview you can change your PSN ID as many times as you like, when the service launches proper it'll work differently. Then, the first change is free. After that, each change costs £7.99, although you get a discount to £3.99 if you're a Plus subscriber.

You change your PSN ID via the settings menu or the profile page of your PS4. You can make it so your previous ID displays with your new ID so friends recognise you, Sony explained. But, be warned: once you decide to display your old ID or not, you can't adjust this after completing the online ID change process.

Also of note: this feature only works with PS4 games originally published after 1st April 2018 and "a large majority of the most-played PS4 games that were released before this date". So, not all games and apps for PS4, PS3 and Vita are guaranteed to support the PSN ID change. Sony warned you may occasionally run up against issues or errors in certain games because of this.

Related, you can revert back to your original ID for free at any time, which, Sony said, will resolve most issues caused by the ID change. Sony said it'll publish a list of compatible games published before 1st April 2018 on the PlayStation website.

PSN users have been calling for the ability to change their usernames for years. 12 years, in fact. There will no doubt be thousands - maybe millions - of people who are a little embarrassed by their PSN ID, given they might have come up with it when they were a lot younger than they are now. Finally, a fresh start!