playstation It looks like they've added a new DRM for digital PS4 and PS5 games. This DRM requires the console to be connected to the internet to check in every 30 days or risk having the player's license for that game temporarily revoked. It's unclear whether this was an intentional change or the result of a bug, but many PlayStation players are concerned about their future ownership of digital games. Sony has yet to comment on the implementation of this feature.
Digital Rights Management (DRM) has become a hot topic among gamers as digital downloads of games from stores like the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, and Steam become more common. Basically, a game with DRM means that players purchase the right to play that game from a publisher, and the publisher can restrict access to the game if the buyer violates the terms and conditions. From a consumer perspective, DRM is seen as a way to limit players from actually owning their own games, since players can theoretically access games canceled by their distributor at any time.
PlayStation users may need to process online check-in. Otherwise, you risk losing your digital games.
A post shared on X by modder and YouTuber Lance McDonald shows screenshots of what appears to be a new form of DRM added to PlayStation games purchased digitally through the PlayStation Store. According to McDonald, Sony has added an online check-in requirement for digital PS4 and PS5 games that requires the console to be connected to the internet every 30 days. Otherwise, the user's access to that game will be revoked. The screenshot shown in this post includes data about the validity period (start) and validity period (end) times, along with a counter for the number of days until check-in must be performed, in the About section of the PlayStation version. Don't Starve Together: Console Edition.
Another X poster, Does it play?, was able to confirm this change by sharing similar screenshots. Does it play? We've also heard rumors that Xbox consoles will also receive a similar update, and we've mentioned that potentially this new DRM could be a significant factor for players on both Sony and Microsoft platforms. However, there are currently no shared screenshots confirming that this feature has been added to Xbox.
Will it be played in a separate post? They provide an update saying they've been informed by Insider that PlayStation's DRM update was unintentional and that “Sony inadvertently broke something while fixing the exploit.” There is no way to confirm the truth of this claim without explicit confirmation from Sony. However, some users have already expressed concern that Sony is planning to add this type of DRM to future PlayStation Store purchases, although it has no intention of releasing this feature now.
This new DRM appears to only affect new PS Store purchases. Games already purchased from the store appear to be unaffected. Furthermore, setting PlayStation as your default console in Account and Security settings doesn't seem to remove or circumvent this online check-in requirement.
