Sony will allow PlayStation 4 owners to use their real name profiles rather than made up ones when they go online at the launch of the next generation console, according to reports.
Sony has confirmed to Kotaku that the new option is not mandatory, and fans will still have the option to use aliases if they are not comfortable with using their real names.
This may not seem a big deal to all those who are used to playing online with nicknames, irrespective of the platform, but Sony’s new attempt to offer real name log ins in definitely a drive to make their online networks more inviting to wider audiences, and also make it easy for players to find others.
On a similar note, Sony had already made it clear back in February that people who use the real-name option on the PS4's PlayStation Network will still be able to play games with nicknames/aliases. This means that it’s not all important to put your real name on your online profiles.
Use of real names as online profiles is not really a trend with players logged into the likes of PSN or Xbox Live, and such kind of profiles are only usually seen in social networking sites such as Facebook. So it remains to be seen if the new system gains any popularity in the long run.
For the sake of comparison, while Microsoft’s own Xbox One will not support the use of real names for online purposes at launch, still the company is planning to facilitate such an option in the future that will probably arrive as an update for the console.
"While real identities continue to be part of our plans for the experience on Xbox One, at launch, customers will continue to search for friends using their Gamertags," a Microsoft representative told Kotaku, while also noting that, "Our teams are working hard to deliver a quality experience for Xbox One. This means prioritizing some features and sometimes postponing others for a later update."
Sony’s PlayStation 4 is currently scheduled to release on Nov. 15 in North America and Nov. 29, 2013 in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
