Relax, the PlayStation Network isn’t going anywhere

Any time you tweak the vocabulary surrounding a network that millions of people use every day, there is bound to be some confusion. That's just what happened earlier this week when Sony announced it would be renaming PlayStation Network accounts as Sony Entertainment Network accounts. The change is minor, but many fans — and even some editorial outlets — took this to mean the PlayStation Network moniker had met its end.

From the start, the idea of the PSN name simply going away seemed ludicrous, and indeed the PlayStation Network will remain just as it's always been. However, users who previously had PlayStation Network accounts now have Sony Entertainment Network accounts instead — but why the change? Believe it or not, it's actually to simplify things for subscribers.

Rewind to a year ago, when Sony's various online services were broken down into the PlayStation Network and the then-new Qriocity music and video networks. Unsurprisingly, the independent branding of these services was perplexing to some who assumed Qriocity was a completely separate entity. In September of 2011, Sony swapped the Qriocity name for Sony Entertainment Network, and now PlayStation Network accounts are being brought under the same roof.

In theory, this should help the company promote its video and music services — a major push for Sony this year — with as little confusion as possible. Whether this new universal approach will help it compete with entrenched, but embattled, stalwarts like Netflix remains to be seen.

This article originally appeared on Tecca

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