If you somehow missed it, players have been worried about PlayStation's new DRM system, which asks you to go online to verify your licenses every month. Sony's support has reportedly broken its silence and confirmed that this is not a bug, as some insisted, but a deliberate feature.

MBG and Pirat_Nation showed screenshots of PS support saying that the system affects games purchased after the March 2026 update, which is slightly different from what we know: previous information claimed April as the starting date.

Whatever the case, the fact itself really makes you understand that you pay to rent games, not own them. Note, however, that the message was most likely generated by a bot, and Sony itself hasn't said anything about the matter, even though creator NikTek claims that a human support employee also said it was true.

In any case, we'll have to wait for an official statement to be sure.

Content creator Spawn Wave tested the system to see which titles are affected so you know what to be ready for. He used his PS5 to see how the whole thing works, noting that while the countdown is visible on PS4, as we know from MODDED WARFARE's screenshots, the information is hidden on PS5.

Spawn Wave used 4 games for the test: Saint Slayer and Vampire Crawlers, which were both purchased digitally today, Crimson Desert, bought digitally at launch about a month ago, and a physical copy of Pragmata.

He removed the CMOS battery, which verifies time, to "confuse" the console and found that he couldn't run Saint Slayer and Vampire Crawlers, as they displayed an error saying, "Can't use this content. Can't connect to the server to verify your license."

Crimson Desert (although it had a lock icon) and Pragmata worked fine, so the theory is right: only games purchased after a certain date are affected.

The creator then changed the time manually, but it didn't help, predictably. Going back online with the CMOS battery inside fixes the problem.

Sony is definitely still thinking about what to say and how to justify the change. Let's see what they come up with (I bet it will be all about fighting piracy).

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