PS4 Game Expiry Timer Sparks DRM Concerns, Here's What We Know So Far 1

There’s been huge concern among PS5 and PS4 owners today regarding an alleged form of DRM introduced by Sony which appears to suggest owned software will expire within a period of 30 days.

However, it’s important to caution that the reporting thus far is inconsistent, there’s been no comment from the company itself, and there have even been some suggestions of the issue already being resolved.

Here’s what we know so far:

  • Some newly purchased PS4 games have started to display a validity period of 30 days.
  • Based on our testing, the issue only appears to be affecting PS4 games purchased within the last few weeks.
  • We’ve been unable to replicate the disclaimer on a PS5, although some on social media claim they’ve seen the message there as well.

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Some reporting suggests this timer resets if you connect to the Internet after it expires; we’ve been unable to confirm this for ourselves.

Other uncorroborated reporting claims your license will be entirely revoked if you don’t connect your console to the Internet before the expiration date; again, we’ve been unable to confirm this is the case. (Although it sounds like grounds for a lawsuit if true.)

The Issue First Emerged in Late March

Reporting on this started to circulate as far back as late March, although it’s only picked up significant social media attention today.

It’s worth pointing out that a very similar issue occurred with the PS3 and PS Vita back in 2022, which was resolved.

One X (or Twitter) account dedicated to game preservation, Destruction Games, claims that if the CMOS battery in your console dies or is removed, any games showing the validity window will no longer boot.

You may recall there was a big hullabaloo around this in 2021, which Sony actually fixed.

The CMOS battery effectively exists to retain date and time information, which allows the console to authenticate Trophy unlocks. Like any battery, it has a shelf life and will eventually stop working.

But while it’s an easy component to replace, an earlier version of the PS4 firmware required the console to connect to the PSN to verify the date and time upon being replaced.

Many were concerned that in the faraway future, if the PSN should ever be taken offline, this handshake would become impossible, rendering all software unplayable.

Sony actually patched this in v9.00, so it’s interesting to see a new issue rear its ugly head some five years later.

It Could Be a Bug

One thing worth reporting is that some users on Reddit claim the validity period was present on their games up until recently, and has since been removed.

Does It Play, meanwhile – an account dedicated to testing whether software will run offline – claims to have heard from an “anonymous insider” that the issue is “unintentional”.

The account writes: “From what we gathered, Sony accidentally broke something while fixing an exploit. They've known about the confusing UI for a while, but didn't see it as urgent.”

Wait for More Information from Sony

Our view on this is that it’s very likely an error.

While we certainly understand the cynicism and concern around this, the reporting is far too inconsistent for this to be working as intended. As we’ve outlined in this article, some are seeing the error and others aren’t. It also only appears to be occurring with newly purchased software specifically on the PS4.

We’ll be the first to criticise the platform holder if this does turn out to be a new type of DRM, but with no communication from the company and a lot of misinformation flooding social media, we’d urge everyone to stay calm until more details emerge.

In the meantime, we’ll contact Sony for comment and update if and when we hear back.

[source x.com, via x.com, reddit.com, x.com]