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(Image: SONY)

Sony is preparing to launch the PS4’s next firmware update but before they do, it's got to go through a little bit of beta testing first before it's allowed to roll out to the general public.

Reports are suggesting that some PS4 players are being invited to test the upcoming 6.10 update and these might be the first people allowed to tweak and change their Online ID's. The email reads:

"Welcome to the PlayStation 4 System Software 6.10 change online ID Preview!

"Congratulations! You've been selected to help us test features of the System Software 6.10 update. Your participation in this programmes is extremely important to us and we look forward to hearing from you on our forums!"

There's more, but from then on its mostly details about keeping the details and specifics confidential.

Based on what was mentioned previously this particular update will be available to some (but not all) players who are part of the PlayStation Preview Program and those who pre-registered as testers for previous PS4 system software betas.

If you're one of those lucky fellows, it might be worth double checking your emails and spam folders to see if you're one of the lucky few selected.

The last big update to the console was the 6.0 update and whilst it uncharacteristically didn't contain any sweeping changes or new features, we suspect it might have been laying a lot of the groundwork for the consoles PSN Name Change feature.

It's possible there could be other changes to the console, but in all likelyhood, the main feature PlayStation will be testing is going to be focussed on ID name changes.

HOW WILL PSN NAME CHANGES WORK?

Sony will be operating a similar setup to Microsoft, where you can change your name once for free and anything after that will incur a charge. The changes will cost $9.99 USD/CAD for non-PS+ members.

For PlayStation Plus members, it will cost $4.99 USD/CAD per change - or your regional equivalent.

WHAT HAS SONY SAID?

"This feature is compatible with PS4 games originally published after April 1, 2018, and a large majority of the most-played PS4 games that were released before this date," writes Sony in the PSBlog.

"However, please note not all games and applications for PS4, PS3 and PS Vita systems are guaranteed to support the online ID change, and users may occasionally encounter issues or errors in certain games.

"If for any reason you experience issues after changing your ID, you can revert back to your original ID for free at any time (you will only be able to revert once during the preview program). Reverting back to an old ID will resolve most issues caused by the ID change."

The preview program for this feature is scheduled to conclude at the end of November 2018.

The full rollout of the feature to all PS4 owners is planned for early 2019.