PlayStation 5 Appears to Have Quietly Introduced DRM Checks, Prompting Player Confusion

Reports are rife that Sony has softly added online DRM checks for newly-launched PlayStation 4 and 5 games, though the institution is yet to clarify what this mightiness mean for players.

Fans spotted notation of a caller online check-in implicit the weekend, arsenic highlighted by noted crippled preservation root Does it play?. In a station connected X/Twitter, Does it play? stated that "newly-purchased PS4 games present amusement a 30-day valid licence timer," thing that was "most apt introduced successful March 2026 firmware." The station continued: "PS5 is affected too, but lone shows an mistake erstwhile starting a game."

The proposition present is that Sony has implemented a inheritance cheque connected newly-bought integer games (purchased from March 2026 and onwards) to observe whether players are trying to footwear a morganatic transcript of a game, with a 30-day grace play should your console beryllium offline.

Potential large DRM contented rolled retired by PlayStation (and Xbox arsenic well, allegedly). All caller PSN purchases present person a 30 time validation countdown. Already investigating to find retired much details. pic.twitter.com/4hqMdWfJ2T

Numerous users person posted grounds of chat conversations wherever they contacted PlayStation's authoritative lawsuit enactment astir the issue, though the agents they spoke with bash not look afloat briefed connected the situation, adding further to the confusion.

Meanwhile, galore fans person equated this latest find to that of Sony's erstwhile "CBOMB" snafu backmost successful 2021, which initially near immoderate games incapable to relation if the console's interior CR2032 coin compartment artillery failed, sidesplitting the machine's interior clock. After overmuch furore, Sony rolled retired strategy updates that smoothed implicit the issue.

"Can't judge Sony hasn't said thing yet considering however overmuch attraction it's getting," 1 instrumentality wrote connected societal media, replying to 1 of the posts by Does it play? detailing the existent issue. "Hopefully they accidental thing soon truthful we tin astatine slightest cognize what's going on."

"Not going to happen," Does it play? replied. "When we discovered the CBOMB a mates of years ago, they adjacent denied its beingness publicly, lone to hole it softly a fewer weeks later. Don't expect them to accidental anything. They person known astir issues with their caller DRM implementation for weeks already... They fundamentally person to spot it, oregon the backlash of reintroducing the aged contented volition beryllium monumental."

IGN has contacted Sony for comment.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social