A new report has emerged which claims that Sony is intending to retire the PlayStation Network branding from its online services later this year, although it's not currently clear what the branding will be replaced with.
This report comes from Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson, who cites an internal email sent to developers which Henderson and the platform have seen. That email claims that the decision to phase out PlayStation Network, along with its abbreviation PSN, was done "to properly capture the breadth of [Sony's] evolving digital services".
According to the email, the changes are purely visual and won't affect any of the functionality of PlayStation Network, so you'll still be able to play games with your friends, earn trophies, and do anything else PSN currently allows you to do. It just won't be called PSN anymore.
Assuming the email is accurate, Sony says that all PlayStation Network and PSN-related assets will be phased out by September, so expect to stop seeing those logos when you sign into PlayStation from that point onward.
Again, though, what Sony actually intends to call the service after the rebrand isn't clear yet. Perhaps PSN will simply be folded into the wider PlayStation Plus...
