PlayStation users have encountered a very strange “innovation” from Sony: their digital games now have a hidden countdown timer.
If you don’t log in within 30 days, access to purchased games is blocked. Naturally, the community was alarmed, and Sony offered no proper explanation.
What’s happening
The YouTuber Modded Warfare was the first to notice the problem on April 25th. A mysterious timer appeared next to recently purchased PS4 games. Further testing confirmed that this was due to full DRM protection.
If the device doesn’t connect to the internet within 30 days, the game simply won’t launch. On PS5, the timer isn’t displayed, but an error message appears when attempting to launch the game offline. Importantly, this doesn’t affect physical discs or previously purchased games, only digital versions.
How it actually works
A user named Andshrew dug deeper and uncovered an interesting detail. Apparently, the game comes with a temporary 30-day offline license upon purchase. However, if you connect to the internet after 15 days of ownership, the license automatically becomes permanent. This means you only need to connect once, and then you can play offline as much as you like.
It’s no coincidence that the transition occurs after 15 days, just when the refund window ends. According to Andshrew, Sony is closing a loophole.
Previously, it was supposedly possible to buy a game, remove the perpetual license file from a vulnerable PS4, and then issue a refund. This scheme has now been shut down.
The ghost of CBOMB is haunting PlayStation again.
The most frustrating part of this story isn’t the timer itself, but its interaction with the CMOS battery. This tiny battery powers the console’s system clock. When it runs out of power, which happens to any device sooner or later, the console loses track of time. This means it can’t validate the temporary license.
The result is that purchased games become inaccessible. This is what was called a “CMOS bomb,” or CBOMB, a few years ago. Sony quickly fixed the issue back then. Now, the new DRM effectively reintroduces the same problem for all new purchases.
Sony is silent, chatbots are fantasizing
There’s still no official response from Sony. Screenshots of conversations with PlayStation support chatbots have surfaced online, allegedly confirming the intentionality of the new DRM.
But you shouldn’t trust them for two reasons. First, screenshots are easily faked using AI. Second, the support chatbots themselves also run on generative AI, meaning they may simply retell what’s already been written online, passing off speculation as the company’s official position.
Some industry sources, according to Does it Play, claim that the DRM was added accidentally. Sony “inadvertently broke something while trying to patch an exploit.” However, this information has not yet been officially confirmed.
Why is this important even for the average player?
It would seem that if you connect once every 15 days, there would be no problem. But the problem is deeper. People go offline for various reasons. For example, they don’t want to receive forced updates, have unstable internet, or live in a remote area.
And looming over all this is the long-term question. What will happen when Sony decides to shut down authentication servers for older consoles? Purchased games could turn into pumpkins.