Over the past couple of days, several reports have surfaced claiming that Sony has introduced a new form of DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles. Supposedly, said DRM, which many believe was installed in the latest firmware updates for both systems, imposes a 30-day limit on any new digital purchases on either system. After these 30 days are up, you’ll reportedly be required to connect your PlayStation consoles to the internet so that Sony can validate your purchases.
The primary source of this story is a video by homebrew and console modding content creator Modded Hardware, uploaded last night on April 24. In the video, Modded Hardware shows that digital games purchased from March onwards on PlayStation 4 now seemingly come with a PlayStation Plus-style expiry date, if you’re running on the latest 13.50 firmware.
However, the story only truly started to trend online once Lance McDonald’s post on X went up this morning. “Hugely terrible DRM has now been rolled out to all PS4 and PS5 digital games,” reads his post. “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.”
So, is this actually true? While Modded Hardware’s video is certainly compelling, it seems to be the only primary source that people are using as evidence. In fact, Lance McDonald’s post on X even uses a screenshot from Modded Hardware’s video as the source. That being said, DoesItPlay, an “international community dedicated to the preservation of video games and their respective systems,” was also able to replicate the issue on their end and shared it in a post on X.
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
But even if this is definitely happening, it remains to be seen if Sony’s doing it on purpose and why. DoesItPlay posted an update later in the day on April 25, stating that they had “received word from an anonymous insider” that the DRM issue is an “unintentional” bug. “From what we gathered, Sony accidentally broke something while fixing an exploit. 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 point, it’s a little too early to speculate in either direction. There is evidence that the system information of PS4 games purchased from March onwards features expiration dates. However, I’ve yet to see any evidence that said games can’t boot once these time limits expire, so there’s a very real chance that this is just a UI bug. Likewise, while several people, including Modded Hardware and DoesItPlay, have stated that the issue also affects PS5 consoles, I couldn’t find any direct evidence of that.
Fans are understandably worried, though. The slow march to an all-digital, always-online future has already interfered with many of the control and ownership rights players have traditionally enjoyed over their games. Even if this latest DRM scare turns out to be just a glitch, it wouldn’t be shocking if console platformer holders tried to roll out restrictions like this in the future.
We’ve reached out to Sony for comment.
Update: 4/25/26, 13:53 p.m. ET According to a post on X by one of DoesItPlay’s playtesters, the “digital timer” isn’t just a visual UI bug; once it’s up, you will reportedly be unable to play any games purchased after March.
I’ve also been experimenting with this, and I can confirm that if your CMOS battery dies, any digital game with the timer becomes unplayable again, even if the console is set as the primary.
This is a digital game I purchased with money yesterday. I didn’t claim it with PS Plus. https://t.co/FzNlfHnyIj pic.twitter.com/SFmjPdOg6c
— Destruction Games〡DoesItPlay (@desgamesyt) April 25, 2026
“I’ve also been experimenting with this, and I can confirm that if your CMOS battery dies, any digital game with the timer becomes unplayable again, even if the console is set as the primary,” writes desgamesyt, alongside an image of Super Meat Boy Forever on the PlayStation 4. “This is a digital game I purchased with money yesterday. I didn’t claim it with PS Plus.”
Based on the context, they were seemingly able to prove this by forcibly running down the CMOS battery, which allows the PlayStation 4’s motherboard to retain accurate real-time settings, such as the date and time, even when it’s not connected to the internet. Here’s hoping it’s still just an unintentional bug that will be fixed in the near future, because it’s suddenly a lot more worrying now that we have an example of its consequences.
