Reports are rife that Sony has quietly added online DRM checks for newly-launched PlayStation 4 and 5 games, though the company is yet to clarify what this might mean for players.
Fans spotted mention of a new online check-in over the weekend, as highlighted by noted game preservation source Does it play?. In a post on X/Twitter, Does it play? stated that “newly-purchased PS4 games now show a 30-day valid licence timer,” something that was “most likely introduced in March 2026 firmware.” The post continued: “PS5 is affected too, but only shows an error when starting a game.”
The suggestion here is that Sony has implemented a background check on newly-bought digital games (purchased from March 2026 and onwards) to detect whether players are trying to boot a legitimate copy of a game, with a 30-day grace period should your console be offline.
Potential major DRM issue rolled out by PlayStation (and Xbox as well, allegedly). All new PSN purchases now have a 30 day validation countdown. Already investigating to find out more details. pic.twitter.com/4hqMdWfJ2T
— Does it play? (@DoesItPlay1) April 25, 2026
Numerous users have posted evidence of chat conversations where they contacted PlayStation’s official customer support about the issue, though the agents they spoke with do not seem fully briefed on the situation, adding further to the confusion.
Meanwhile, many fans have equated this latest discovery to that of Sony’s previous “CBOMB” snafu back in 2021, which initially left some games unable to function if the console’s internal CR2032 coin cell battery failed, killing the machine’s internal clock. After much furore, Sony rolled out system updates that smoothed over the issue.
“Can’t believe Sony hasn’t said anything yet considering how much attention it’s getting,” one fan wrote on social media, replying to one of the posts by Does it play? detailing the current issue. “Hopefully they say something soon so we can at least know what’s going on.”
“Not going to happen,” Does it play? replied. “When we discovered the CBOMB a couple of years ago, they even denied its existence publicly, only to fix it quietly a few weeks later. Don’t expect them to say anything. They have known about issues with their new DRM implementation for weeks already… They basically have to patch it, or the backlash of reintroducing the old issue will be monumental.”
IGN has contacted Sony for comment.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
