News circulating on the Internet claims that Sony may have launched a stricter DRM system for digital versions of PS4 and PS5 games, but the relevant information has not yet been confirmed. The discussion stems from multiple posts by game modder Lance MacDonald, who claimed that newly purchased digital copies of games now require regular online verification.
"Every digital game you buy now requires online verification every 30 days," McDonald said, adding that if online verification is not completed within that period, the game's license will be revoked. He further explained: "The games you have purchased before do not seem to be affected by this, but any games purchased from now on will only be able to run normally for 30 days without completing online verification." He also claimed that this restriction cannot be bypassed even through regular settings such as setting the console as a commonly used console.
This statement has caused confusion among the user community, especially since Sony has not released any official explanation on this matter. McDonald also mentioned a video that broke down the situation, and in response to related questions, he said that many users have misunderstandings about how PSN's authorization mechanism works.
If the news is true, this system will mark a major change in the digital game ownership rules on the PlayStation platform, which will have a particularly significant impact on players who play offline for a long time. In fact, other platforms have adopted similar online verification systems to a certain extent, but the specific implementation methods are different.
Sony has not released any official statement regarding these claims, and the rule changes mentioned in the report are still only in the speculative stage.