Brands are strengthened by traditional naming conventions that catch on and can be weakened when they make seemingly arbitrary, alarming changes to them, as is the case with PlayStation apparently discarding a piece of its branding synonymous with its online services. It appears that PlayStation Network will have a new name this fall, and fans are not particularly pleased with the decision.
As per Insider Gaming, an email sent to developers explains that “Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has strategically decided to phase out the terms ‘PlayStation Network’ and ‘PSN’ across [the] platform in order to properly capture the breadth of [its] evolving digital services.” Now, accumulating a lot of buzz on Reddit, users are sharing their opinions on how PlayStation Network’s branding may take shape.
It is not unusual for companies to revise their branding occasionally; HBO, for example, recently went through a mercurial period, bouncing from HBO Max to Max and back to HBO Max again. Still, fans have been quite vocal about this news, questioning why the PlayStation Network branding requires a change in the first place.
For instance, Reddit user MrTreezx argues, “PSN… Clean, cut and simple. What the [f***] why the change?” User Aileos is unperturbed,...
