Sony Clarifies: New PS5 DRM Requires Only One-Time Online Verification
Recently, PlayStation has faced criticism regarding its new DRM. It was claimed that users would lose access to digital games if they didn't log in for 30 days. Now, Sony has finally issued an official statement on the matter.
Sony has officially confirmed that the new PS5 DRM only requires a one-time online verification, after which players can access games as usual. Therefore, games will not be lost even if players do not log in frequently, alleviating user concerns.
A PlayStation spokesperson confirmed to GameSpot that players can continue to play games as normal. The system will only perform a one-time authorization verification and will not require any further verification afterward.
It is said that the implementation of Digital Rights Management (DRM) is to combat fraudulent refunds. Simply put, after the refund period ends, you only need to verify once, and then you can keep your media library without needing to log in regularly.
It is currently unclear whether Sony compromised and changed its policy due to public pressure. Regardless, even if the DRM is only a one-time verification, Sony could have communicated better to avoid such a huge uproar.
GameSpot reports:
PS4 and PS5 users have recently encountered a new issue affecting their purchased digital versions of games. The latest system update appears to have added a "30-day online authorization verification" mechanism, which has worried players facing long periods of disconnection, potentially losing access to some games. However, Sony has since explained how it works, and overall, most players don't need to worry too much.
Multiple users, including the gaming accessibility account “Does it play?”, reported that all newly purchased digital versions of PlayStation Store games (those purchased before March 2026 seem unaffected) come with a 30-day countdown. The timer shows when the player must next connect to the internet to verify, otherwise they will lose access to the game. Although this countdown is not visible on the PS5, “Does it play?” claims that it is still being tracked in the background.
While this is unlikely to cause actual problems for most players, there are some use cases, such as the console being offline for a long time, or the network being interrupted for weeks.
Does it play? told Kotaku that the authorization check mechanism was initially intended to combat refund fraud, but its design was intended to achieve unlimited authorization later.
So far, that seems to be the case. A SIE spokesperson told GameSpot:
“Players can continue to access and play purchased games as usual. Only a one-time online verification is required to confirm game authorization, and no further verification is required afterward.”
However, this has quickly attracted “taking advantage of the situation” from within the industry. Game retailer GameStop also issued a statement immediately, emphasizing that if you buy a physical version of the game, you will not encounter similar problems.
In fact, game DRM (Digital Rights Management) has always been a controversial topic in the industry, especially during the early days of Microsoft's Xbox One in 2013. At that time, Microsoft originally planned to allow players to install physical games on the console and play them without inserting the disc, but at the cost of requiring regular online authorization verification. This plan caused a huge controversy that year, and Microsoft eventually had to abandon it and adopt a traditional model similar to the Xbox 360. In that turmoil, Sony also released a rather sarcastic advertisement at the time to “add insult to injury.”