We’ve all been asking for it, and it finally came. After all this time, we can finally change our names on the PlayStation Network, a feature that Xbox Live and Steam have been offering for a long time now. The change went live back on April 10. But, if you’ve changed your name and it turned into ‘Tempxxxx,” that’s because the PlayStation Network will automatically change offensive PSN names.
Note that this name change is a forgiving stance, as the network would once ban users for offensive tags. If for some reason you don’t want to play Apex Legends with the name Tempxxxx, you can revert back to your old name to fix this. However, this will only happen if your username has been reported. If your username is offensive and you haven’t been reported, don’t be surprised if that changes soon.
Offensive names break the PlayStation Community Code of Conduct, reports GamesIndustry.biz. There it states that users should “not post anything that is defamatory (making an untrue statement that may be damaging to the person concerned) or racially, ethnically, religiously or sexually offensive.” Of course, this not only applies to names but also messages, forums, etc.
Finally, if you haven’t done a name change but your old name was offensive, you’ll have to change it anyway. It seems that with this new name change policy, PlayStation Network is going all in on cleaning stuff up. I still think it’s amazing that this is even a feature. Players have been asking for this since the days of the PlayStation 3.
If you’ve yet to do a name change, be sure to check out our PlayStation ID Change guide here. Just… don’t make it offensive if you actually want to keep it. The first name change is free, after all.
