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)
Physical media collectors proven correct once more.
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 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.
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.
Hopefully they can just keep it offline forever. If their Playstation never gets an update, then they shouldn’t have this become a problem
Sony made a fucking Xbox One. Exactly the version that made the internet crucify Microsoft. This is incredible.
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.
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 and 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 dame shit. Smh
Ah so in 25 years when I pull out my PS5 it’ll be useless cool cool cool
in 25 years you’ll be able to pirate and emulate whatever PS5 games you want.
HAHAHHA
How in the world are you this positive ? No fucking way will it be good.
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 paying customers and incentivize sailing the high seas, brain dead greedy pigs will dig their own grave and then pass the blame to others
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.
“Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell”
with every new console release, I’m more content with my PC
Remember when they clowned on Xbox for this
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.
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.
People gotta stop buying Playstations, they keep doing dumb stuff.
Just like the original plan for Xbox One!
