Sony has decided to end the PlayStation Network name on PSN accounts and fold it into the Sony Entertainment Network name, as of February 8. If you own a PSN account it will remain in place with the username and password intact; only the name of your account is changing (although apparently it's not changing on the PSP, according to Sony's statement).
Sony's statement, from an email to PSN account holders: “On February 8, 2012, your “PlayStation Network account”will be renamed a “Sony Entertainment Network account” or a “SEN account” in conjunction with Sony Computer Entertainment’s PlayStation 3 system software and PlayStation Vita system software updates. (Note, this change will not be applied to the PSP (PlayStation Portable) system at this time.) For general purposes, this account change is a change in name only. Your username or password will not change, nor are we asking you to change them. In accordance with this transition, some necessary naming changes will be made to the TOS and Privacy Policy. This transition is based on Sony’s goal to enhance its unique digital entertainment offering. As a series of these activities Sony started last September, PlayStation Network will be aligned with “Sony Entertainment Network.” This helps us get closer to our goal of establishing a global comprehensive network platform of services across games, movies, music and more, all accessible from one convenient account.”
This does not mean that Sony is eliminating the PlayStation Network brand; the PSN website is still functioning under that name with no indication of a change. Consulting the Sony Entertainment Network website, it appears that the PlayStation Network is just one of the brands, along with Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited. The change on the user accounts seems more like a way to help promote the Sony Entertainment Network brand and underscore the the relationship between that brand the PlayStation Network as being part of that larger brand. CEO Kaz Hirai had announced back at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin in September 2011 that Sony was debuting the Sony Entertainment Network in order to bring together video, games and music content. (The Music Unlimited brand is replacing Qriocity, a brand which Sony appears to have decided to eliminate.) “We’re leveraging the biggest asset, the Sony brand, to establish comprehensive, global platform called Sony Entertainment Network,” Hirai said last year at IFA.
This rebranding allows Sony to unite these entertainment services under one, device-independent brand, which Sony will make available on every new Internet-enabled device it sells. This includes consoles, smartphones, ebook readers, tablets, smart TVs, and more. Despite the headlines that have appeared on other web sites, judging from Sony's own web sites, the above email, and the lack of any official statement from Sony saying clearly that the PSN brand is no more, it seems that this change is just affecting the account names, not the PlayStation Network as a whole.
IndustryGamers has reached out to Sony in order to clarify this issue.
Update: Here's a statement from Sony, confirming what we thought was the case: "Back at IFA in September, we announced that we would be changing the name of Sony’s online entertainment services from Qriocity to Sony Entertainment Network. The reason for this change was so that there was more unity between the services and the multiple Sony devices where they can be accessed. The goal is for there to be one networked log-in for all Sony services. By changing the name ‘PlayStation Network account’ to ‘Sony Entertainment Network account’, helps clarify the unity between PSN and other Sony Entertainment Network services. Users can enjoy the same services continuously without being required to change their username and password. However, this change will not affect the naming of “PlayStation®Network accounts” when viewed on a PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system."
