- cross-posted to:
- games@sh.itjust.works
- cross-posted to:
- games@sh.itjust.works
Hugely terrible DRM has now been rolled out to all PS4 and PS5 digital games. Every digital game you buy now requires an online check-in every 30 days. If you buy a digital game and don’t connect your console to the internet for 30 days, your license will be removed.
Source [2026-04-25; +image]
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You wouldn’t “lose” it, the licence would be restored after connecting to internet… provided Sony’s servers are still functioning when you do…
Source [2026-04-25]
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…Trophies on PS4 require the internal system clock (the one you can’t see / alter) to be correct, so people cant change their PS4 date/time to make it look like they got trophies earlier than they really did. If your PS4 clock battery dies, all your games die
Source [2021-03-23]
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Newly purchased PS4 games now have 30 day valid license timer.
Most likely introduced in March 2026 firmware.
Could be a bug similar to an incident from 2022.
PS5 is affected too, but only shows an error when starting a game.Source [2026-04-25]
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Update x2: not a bug - PlayStation just quietly confirmed it’s intentional.
Any digital game you buy after the march 2026 update now requires you to go online at least once every 30 days or it won’t even launch.Source [2026-04-28]
[Image] Official PlayStation Support Response [2026-04-28]
Source: https://xcancel.com/SmashJT/status/2048887546323808258#m
[Image] "Don't Starve Together" (PlayStation)
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Perfect timing for the Steam Machine to come back. Shame about the … everything else going on.
It is why I buy on GOG for DRM free when it’s an option there
Its been the perfect time to build a used PC if anything
Good luck finding decently priced RAM, anything at a reasonable price used just gets picked up by scalpers and relisted at the inflated prices.
FWIW according to an insider, this is a bug. People have been saying this menu is for PS+ or games that expire when your subscription runs out.
Incredibly stupid that Sony isn’t responding about this at all though.
Thank you! I’ve updated the post, and added more context. I am sorry, but it does not look like a bug.
Update x2: not a bug - PlayStation just quietly confirmed it’s intentional.
Any digital game you buy after the march 2026 update now requires you to go online at least once every 30 days or it won’t even launch.Source: https://xcancel.com/SmashJT/status/2048887546323808258#m
Oof, that’s crazy. What were they thinking?
Cynical conspiracy: They want to gauge how bad the backlash is to see if they could get away with it for real. Assuming that it actually is a bug.
Why would they want to? What is the business model for this? How would it make them more money?
“It helps prevent piracy”
I don’t know, maybe by revoking licenses they could then re-sell those licenses and save money?
They don’t revoke them
Sony have never been technically competent. It’s why their online service is breached/down seemingly every other year.
Their main development hub for this part of the platform is in my city and they list for new contract to hire or direct hire positions pretty regularly. I’ve been hesitant to apply ever because despite their obvious incompetence, I’m sure the interview process is a gatekeeping nightmare, and one manager I had was from there and thought he was God’s gift to software despite being the creepiest, technically dull reject I’ve ever been managed by.
I think he was running part of Sony home when it was breached and leaked everyone’s information.
This is the one reason why the Xbox 360 was THE online gaming console for a while because Sony’s servers were horrible.
Sony made a fucking Xbox One. Exactly the version that made the internet crucify Microsoft. This is incredible.
This is exactly what I thought when I read this. That funny little commercial they made back then isn’t so funny now.
This is entirely on brand for Sony. Don’t forget, this is the same company that installed a rootkit on people’s computers for the audacity of *checks notes* putting their music CD into their computer.
Ooooo, I hadn’t heard about this.
Can you link to more info?
Edit: Nevermind, my lousy google-fu proved adequate.to find this one. Link for the lazy
It was a huge story, if you Google “sony rootkit” you’ll find a million results
And the whole board of directors nodded and clapped their hands. Nobody understood what it was about, but did it anyway.
This wasn’t a Board decision, it’s not nearly at that level (especially for a company with $80B in revenue). This was some software engineer with an idea and a need to impress his boss.
This was some Director not a software engineer.
Well, he’s a director now.
Exactly the version that made the internet crucify Microsoft.
Not exactly. It’s actually worse.
The Xbox system has your primary console get a permanent license, you only need to be online if you’re using a different console.
This 30 day limit even applies to your primary Playstation console. Meaning the whole primary thing is effectively useless. At least as this system currently exists now.
Damn so Xbox is better about this now lmao
On the very console that owes a huge deal of its initial success to the comparison with the intended XBOne bullshit.
Fucking hell.
So, exactly what they did with the Xbox One. Pre release everyone was so angry at the console having an online dependency, even for offline stuff, that they made a last-minute change and reduced it to mandatory check-ins.
Lmao. My friend doesn’t have the money to pay for internet for months now. He does have a lot of games for his playstation. I went over and we had to hotspot trough my phone to be able to play GTA5 singleplayer.
Absolutely horrid. This kind of BS should fall under StopKillingGames where singleplayer games should be able to be played without an internet connection.
This is worse because there is actual malice involved.
Physical media collectors proven correct once more.
I don’t think most modern releases work offline, as in the disc is just a key or only part of the install data. You need to get online for that extra install data or required day one patch.
Shit sucks.
Physical cs. digital isn’t the problem though. It’s DRM.
This is where emulation and fitgirl will pick up the slack if I want to play anything.
Since when fitgirl is doing Playstation titles
What’s on PlayStation that isn’t on PC anymore?
Bloodborne, Gran Turismo, Infamous, The Order 1886
Playable on ShadPS4 emulator though. I played most of Bloodborne on my PC in 21:9 widescreen at 60 FPS using it. (didn’t finish the game yet)
Physical media collectors will have so much fun playing their games without day 1 patches in the future…
Let’s be realistic, they fuck everyone over. Physical and digital.
Only the pirates get the best copies
They will still have more fun than someone who cannot download (or reactivate the already downloaded) game without a functioning server. Plus they could even sell it, if they wanted to. I’m digital only PC Gamer and even I understand the benefits of physical media (provided its all on disk / cart).
This is of course not a problem for game, but some are downright broken without the day 1 patch, so there’s no fun to be had with these games. Being able to play a crashing, stuttering version of a game is not on my list of upsides of owning a physical copy. And selling the disc, knowing that it’s nonfunctional is below me.
I fail to see the benefits. I’d be on your side without a doubt up until the PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 era, but after that it started to crumble, as the finished product too often was not all on disc.
I don’t even understand why there is any necessity for this. Was there even the possibility to run games you haven’t bought on a PS5?
Recent breakthroughs in the hacking scene have been made against Sony’s current hypervisor layer of protection which has, historically, been the breaking point of getting unsigned code running on the consoles. So it’s only a matter of time before you may be able to pirate PS5 games.
I mean you can break into someone’s house and steal their games… and their playstation…
Right. Now you have to go back and steal their internet every month.
Might as well steal their key then too
And their girl
It’s amazing how all of my Genesis, Playstation 1, and Dreamcast games still work, as will work as long as I have the game and console and they are in good condition. But that isn’t guaranteed for a game I buy next week.
PS1 and DC games (especially the DC games) will deteriorate. CD-based games are already dying to disc rot.
First of all, this disc rot thing isnt really true if you havent been storing them in an outdoor warehouse. That issue mostly pertains to burned discs. Optical media lasts a very very long time.
People say vhs tapes are going bad as well yet I have hundreds that were stored in a damp non climate controlled garage and they work the same as 20 years ago.
The bigger issue is the lasers in the drives. unfixable and no replacement.
The solution is SD cards, and networked play (for ps2 with ethernet )
If that fails, we have emulation forever. Get an adaptor for the og controllers and your golden.
I can fit the entire DC library on 1 SD card. Mind blowing. Truly golden age of gaming right now.
Agreed! I think it’s not uncommon for old games to be stored in places like garages, attics, or storage lockers though, all of which could lack climate control or be almost anti-climate control.
Or maybe there are a lot of people who’ve got scratched discs. Either way, I’ve seen articles with anecdotes of it.
True. People treat discs horribly. Since I was little ive always treated then with the utmost care, same with records. Never understood kids scratching discs. It helps I’m probably autistic.
My discs are pristine.
If only there were some way to preserve them.
Consoles are a closed off wasteland
I recently bought a Ebook from Bookshop.org thinking I could download and transfer it to my cracked Kindle and to support the author only to find out it is DRM locked and can only be read on their specific apps, so now I am asking for a refund and meanwhile downloaded a copy of the book throught other legal sources and enjoying it, all these lockin systems just screw over the people paying customers and just incentivize sailing the high seas, brain dead greedy pigs will dig their own grave and then pass the blame to others
So i am clear, as this will affect me, it isn’t saying i need a subscription, just that i need to have my ps5 connected to the internet?
Can someone help me to understand why this is an issue if i play online games as well as offline.
Does it just mean it becomes a problem when support for the ps5 stops? Like when you cant log in anymore?
This was already sort of a problem I think because I booted up my PS3 earlier this year and my Playstation account credentials didn’t work because of some new account verification bullshit, and I couldn’t play my PS Store digital games, only discs.
I went through the new account verification thing on ps3 more than a year ago, all digital titles work. Granted ours is not connected to internet for a long time and is stuck on afaik 4.88 firmware.
We should make one exception and let Valve have a monopoly on video games until Gabe dies. They get Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, all of it. For safekeeping.
The company that inserted itself as a middleman into a once-open gaming platform and added a layer of online DRM to all games you buy, even offline single player games. Outstanding. Good job, everyone.
Huh, I vaguely recall micro$lop wanting something similar with their XB1, back in 2013.
They were even worse. No physical media offine, either.
If buying isn’t owning, piracy isn’t stealing*
*
I know Steam makes you tick a box saying "hey, paying for the game here means you are paying for a tempory licence. But l am 100% ready to switch to piracy if this comes to Steam. I will am happy to pay the devs through a steam purchase, but just pirate the game afterwards.
