- 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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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.
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.
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 made a fucking Xbox One. Exactly the version that made the internet crucify Microsoft. This is incredible.
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
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
On the very console that owes a huge deal of its initial success to the comparison with the intended XBOne bullshit.
Fucking hell.
This is exactly what I thought when I read this. That funny little commercial they made back then isn’t so funny now.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Only the pirates get the best copies
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.
Before you realize data on the disc is encoded digitally.
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?
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
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.
Literally the kind of bullshit that Sony mocked Xbox for trying with the Xbox One when it and the PS4 came out. When legitimate concerns were brought up that some gamers were not able to connect their device to the internet regularly, for instance if they are in the military deployed overseas or on ships that play games on their downtime, or if they simply lose service for some time for financial issues, or if they have metered connections that they depend on for work, etc. they were told to just buy an older Xbox. Sony gave them hell in interviews after that. Here we are 13 years later, and Sony is busy retroactively doing that. Smh
Steal video games until these asshats change course
Its been 84 years…
Shit. I was going to say, maybe I could not update (I haven’t in a while) and keep my console offline forever.
But then I remembered that thanks to the piss poor storage capacity of that console half my games must be unistalled right now.
First Sony console I ever bought. After that stunt, also last.
I thought such a check was standard already. It’s for digital purchases only, which you need internet to download anyway. Only 30 days might be too short in some cases. Steam on PC has a similar check, but I think its longer than 30 days.
I assume they are hardening the digital purchases, as they move more and more to digital (only). Because otherwise there was no need to do this after 6 years into the lifecycle of the console.
I am not sure nowadays about the limit from Steam/Valve side.
Cached license ownership Steam App tickets data is indeed stored locally, including a property
appticketsin encrypted state in file.../Steam/userdata/${steamUserId}/config/localconfig.vdf.The data is to be eventually mapped to the interface
EAuthSessionResponsewhich may be used to implement the value fork_EAuthSessionResponseNoLicenseOrExpired.k_EAuthSessionResponseNoLicenseOrExpired- 2 - The user doesn’t have a license for this App ID or the ticket has expired.Source [web-archive]
This data is normally used by the Steam client only, and is available for explicit requests via Steam API, including third-party launchers.
# App Ownership Ticket
This part of the ticket is signed by Steam and is valid for a longer period of time, usually a couple weeks. It proves to your peer that you own the game you’re trying to authenticate for. It can be reused many times with different GC tokens.
It contains things like your SteamID, the ID of the app it was assigned for, your external and internal IP addresses, the times when the ticket was generated and when it expires, the licenses you own which grant you this game, any DLC you own, and a signature.
Since this part of the ticket is signed, has an expiration date, and can be reused, there’s no need to send it to Steam for validation, so it’s validated locally.
Source: https://github.com/DoctorMcKay/node-steam-user/wiki/Steam-App-Auth
If I do recall it correctly, previously, the Steam client debug console command
licenses_printreturned local “expiration times” for next checks with the remote API (as “handshakes”) within the 14 days limit.The encrypted tickets data is considered signed, and I do recall reading about its signed “expires at” was set to 14 or maximum 30 days only. The 14 days matches out with the discounting limit:
Launch discounts start once your title is released on Steam and can be staged to run for between 7 and 14 days, ending at 10am Pacific on the applicable day…
Source [web-archive]-–
Steam is an online service offered by Valve.
Source [web-archive]-–
This is not actually true - Offline Mode is designed to be indefinite… Looks like Kotaku decided to link to this post from six months ago, and every game blog has copy-pasted it. The “two week” timeout issue has been fixed for months now, along with several other bugs. We’re still working on improvements, and you might catch them if you read the patch notes carefully, but we don’t bother to post on the forums every time we fix something (maybe out of fear that it will get posted as front-page news six months later?).
Source [web-archive]Yet, still, I wish I had more time… to investigate it myself. It feels like the signature time depends on the title. considering the following article:
I constantly see people unknowingly spreading misinformation about how Steam Offline Mode operates and most of it dates back to 2004…
This post exists to explain how there is no time limit on Steam offline mode and Steam isn’t going to prevent you from preserving your games forever, assuming you take steps to back up your installation (which you should do anyway for any digitally downloaded games.)
…Backup your Steam install folder, make one registry key, and you can play your games offline forever on any computer.
Source: https://redd.it/xt3xec (Steam Offline Mode has no time limit: an explanation…) [2022-10-01]
Related: Steam Guide: Steam Offline Mode has no time limit: an explanation [web-archive]
Thanks for all the sources, very appreciate this.
As for the “expiration date”, Valve made some changes a while ago. And there were misinformation, but also because Valve changed this and did not explain it well to the public. I think the 14 days limit was treated as a bug later, but can’t find the source. And I know for a fact that its not 14 days, as last year in summer I had no internet for longer than a month if I am not mistaken. And some games were still functional, after 30 days. That is the Steam DRM only, so if a game has its own DRM and other checks, then that is a separate issue.
At the very latest with Steam Deck they had to do all of these changes, because using it offline for longer period of time is a totally normal thing to do on a handheld. Sadly its not very clear documented and communicated by Valve as far as I know, at least to the public for non developers.
I already researched it last year and did not come to a definitive conclusion. I only know that there were changes in recent years, that’s why I cannot trust old sources. Actually someone has to do a ticket and ask Valve employee directly. Someday I do this if there is still no answer.
Ah so in 25 years when I pull out my PS5 it’ll be useless cool cool cool
Just buy all games again as remasters of remasters of remasters.
in 25 years you’ll be able to pirate and emulate whatever PS5 games you want.
This is contrary to my headcanon Cyberpunk capitalist-hell future where we all own nothing, and everything is a client and subscription-based, and 2018 kindles and mp3 players go for $700 both due to inflation and people finally realizing what they’d lost.
but sure, maybe, idk
On your watch.
with every new console release, I’m more content with my PC
Thanks for the warning. They don’t want me to buy a PS, I get it.
Welp, looks like it’s time to check out some of those PS4 hacks, eh? Ahoy, ahoy.
The latest PS4 jailbreak goes up to like FW 13.50 and there’s a plethora of different methods to choose from - all of them pretty easy to do at home with minimal preparation. There’s even tools you can purchase that do the jailbreak for you, automatically.
Have a look at Modded Warfare’s channel on YT if you’re interested. He’s doing regular updates on the modding scene and has lots of good, detailed tutorials to follow along.
Find ps4s that weren’t updated to the latest because as i understood it, they’ve essentially bricked its modding capabilities with a patch.
And that is why turning off automatic updates is sometimes necessary, and a must for games, consoles and mobiles. Because the anti consumer practices by corporate shitlords are far worse than a low chance of being hacked through a “security flaw”.
My PS4’s been collecting dust for a while, so I’m sure its firmware is out of date. Time to see what the homebrew scene is all about!
This is exactly the kind of crap So y lives to pull, and why after my PS4’s disc drive died (and I found out they’re paired to the motherboard and can’t just be replaced) I stopped buying any more games, let Plus lapse, and repurchased everything on PC.
They all run better and can be modded there anyway. Fuck you Sony.
Remember when they clowned on Xbox for this
No.
They clowned on Xbox for wanting to lock physical games to a single account/console.
The second hand market no longer means shit because Game Pass and PlayStation Plus exist.
No it was also about online check-in you just don’t remember
From what I remember, the online check-in was never actually implemented, or it was removed right before the console released. But they were talking about it and the backlash was so strong that they actually made the right call and removed it.
Correct they chose not to over the backlash, but even then backing out of it didn’t stop Sony for including no online required in their marketing
