PlayStation DRM Glitch Sparks Fan Concerns

Over the past several days, a wave of concern has swept through the PlayStation community after reports emerged that Sony may have quietly introduced a new Digital Rights Management (DRM) system on PS4 and PS5 consoles. According to these claims, the latest firmware updates for both platforms impose a 30-day online check-in requirement for any newly purchased digital games. If a console fails to connect to the internet within that window, the game license could be revoked.

The initial spark came from a video posted on April 24 by Modded Hardware, a creator known for covering homebrew and console modding. In the footage, they demonstrated that digital games bought from March onward on a PS4 running firmware 13.50 now display expiration dates similar to those seen with PlayStation Plus titles. However, the story gained real traction when Lance McDonald shared a post on X this morning, warning that “hugely terrible DRM has now been rolled out to all PS4 and PS5 digital games.” He claimed every new digital purchase requires an online validation every 30 days, or the license disappears.

So, is this genuinely a new policy or just a glitch? While Modded Hardware’s video is the primary source cited by most, the evidence is thin. McDonald’s own post uses a screenshot from that video, and the only other independent verification comes from DoesItPlay, a community focused on video game preservation. They replicated the issue on their end and shared their findings on X, noting that all new PSN purchases now show a 30-day validation countdown.

Yet, even if the phenomenon is real, its cause remains unclear. Later on April 25, DoesItPlay posted an update, citing an anonymous insider who claimed the DRM behavior is an unintentional bug. “From what we gathered, Sony accidentally broke something while fixing an exploit,” they wrote. “They’ve known about the confusing UI for a while, but didn’t see it as urgent. Hoping for a clarifying statement now.”

At this stage, drawing firm conclusions is premature. There’s evidence that PS4 games purchased after March display expiration dates in their system information. But no one has yet demonstrated that those games become unplayable once the timer runs out. It could simply be a UI bug. Similarly, while Modded Hardware and DoesItPlay claim the issue also affects PS5 consoles, direct proof remains elusive.

Nevertheless, the anxiety among fans is palpable. The industry’s gradual shift toward an all-digital, always-online model has already eroded the traditional ownership rights players once had over their purchases. Even if this turns out to be a harmless glitch, it wouldn’t be surprising if console makers eventually attempted to enforce such restrictions deliberately.

We have reached out to Sony for comment.

Update: 4/25/26, 1:53 p.m. ET , A new post from one of DoesItPlay’s playtesters suggests the timer is more than cosmetic. According to desgamesyt, once the countdown expires, players cannot launch any digital games purchased after March. They also demonstrated that if the CMOS battery dies, those games become unplayable, even on a console set as the primary device. “This is a digital game I purchased with money yesterday. I didn’t claim it with PS Plus,” they wrote, sharing an image of Super Meat Boy Forever on PS4. By deliberately draining the CMOS battery, which maintains accurate date and time settings offline, they confirmed the DRM lockout is functional. Here’s hoping this remains an unintentional bug that Sony will patch soon, because the real-world consequences are suddenly much more alarming.