Sony has finally admitted that they have added DRM to new PS4 and PS5 game purchases.
An SIE spokesperson shared this statement to GameSpot:
Players can continue to access and play their purchased games as usual. A one-time online check is required to confirm the game’s license, after which no further check-ins are required.
Sony’s statement does not corroborate details that dataminers found, but what it generally describes meets the definition of DRM.
The issue was first found a few days ago. Our current understanding is that Sony added in a requirement for newly purchased games to check in with Sony’s servers online every 30 days.
However, that requirement is meant to block bad actors from exploiting PlayStation’s refund system. Based on Sony’s claims, the check in only happens once.
This leaves so many other questions, but the paramount one should be a matter of trust. We found at least one customer who claims to have quit PlayStation.
On a technical level, it’s also perplexing. Why couldn’t Sony just patch the refund exploit without DRM? As Hikikomori argues, this setup punishes legitimate customers.