Over the past several days, PlayStation fans have been up in arms over an apparent newly-added form of digital rights management (DRM) on the platform.
As first reported by the YouTube channel Modded Warfare, a new timer indicated that PS5 owners would have to connect to the internet at least once every 30 days to continue to access their digital games. Naturally, many took issue with this, especially as it brought to mind rival Microsoft’s disastrous — and later reversed — DRM policy with the Xbox One.
Now, PlayStation has set the record straight, confirming to GameSpot that this isn’t actually a strict new DRM policy. “Players can continue to access and play their purchased games as usual. A one-time online check is required to confirm the game’s licence, after which no further check-ins are required,” a company spokesperson told the publication.
PlayStation didn’t elaborate on why the online check has been implemented. However, the game preservation website Doesitplay speculated to Kotaku that this could be related to refund scams and a recent issue related to Star Wars: Racer Revenge. In the case of the latter, people discovered that using physical copies of the game’s PS4 port could actually exploit a vulnerability to jailbreak the PS5.
Regardless of the reason, though, PS5 fans at least don’t have to worry about monthly online checks to keep playing their digital games.
Source: GameSpot
