• Sony is under fire for new rumored '30-day license check' for digital purchases on PS5 and PS4 consoles
• The DRM feature was spotted by several users, and seems to only impact purchases made after the March system update
• Sony is yet to explain whether the feature is intentional or a bug

Sony has been under fire over the last few months over significant price hikes on PlayStation 5 and PS Portal hardware amid the ongoing memory crisis and wider economic struggles. Unfortunately, the company is back in the spotlight again, for the wrong reasons — and arguably the worst yet.

As reported by VideoCardz, several PlayStation users spotted a new '30-day license check' on digitally purchased games on PS5 and PS4. This supposedly revokes game licenses if users don't log in or connect their console to the internet within 30 days, meaning that they can no longer be played until the console is connected to the internet again.

This seemingly only applies to games that have been bought after the latest March system update, and reportedly won't impact previous purchases.

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Unsurprisingly, the situation has left several users panicking, effectively labelling the measure as a new form of console digital right management - or DRM.

It has also sparked comparisons to Microsoft's Xbox One controversy back in 2013, when it revealed a DRM feature that required users to be online every 24 hours or games would stop working, alongside frustrating restrictions on game resales.

Notably, Sony famously mocked Microsoft with a short video on how to share games on PS4, but now in 2026, Sony is seemingly following suit. That's, of course, if this new license check is intentional.

Concerned users have already reached out to PlayStation's chat support, and based on the replies, it appears as though this new DRM measure is indeed intentional, despite suggestions that it may be a bug. We've reached out to Sony for a statement, but haven't received a response yet.

If this is a fully intended feature, then it will undoubtedly place Sony in consumers' bad books. Microsoft was forced to walk back on its initial DRM feature thanks to strong backlash, and it won't be a surprise to see the same pressure mounted on its rival this time around.

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Isaiah is a Staff Writer for the Computing channel at TechRadar. He's spent over two years writing about all things tech, specifically games on PC, consoles, and handhelds. He started off at GameRant in 2022 after graduating from Birmingham City University in the same year, before writing at PC Guide which included work on deals articles, reviews, and news on PC products such as GPUs, CPUs, monitors, and more. He spends most of his time finding out about the exciting new features of upcoming GPUs, and is passionate about new game releases on PC, hoping that the ports aren't a complete mess.