PlayStation’s new digital rights management policy for PS5 games has turned into a confusing mess. Sony’s support chatbot is telling players the 30-day online check-in is real. Live support agents are saying the opposite. And independent tests have already confirmed that games bought after March 2026 will stop working if the console stays offline too long.
Here is everything confirmed so far.
What the PS5 DRM Actually Does
Digital games purchased after the March 2026 system update now carry a 30-day countdown timer. If a PS5 does not connect to the internet within that window, the game’s license expires, and the title refuses to launch until the console goes back online.
Setting your console as the “Primary” system does not get around the requirement. That workaround previously helped players avoid periodic DRM checks on secondary consoles, but it no longer bypasses the 30-day timer.
Games bought before this change are not affected. Only titles purchased from this point forward carry the new restriction.
PlayStation Support Said It Was Real, Then Live Agents Said It Wasn’t
Players who contacted PlayStation Support received written responses acknowledging the policy. A support ticket screenshot that spread widely online described the 30-day timer as applying to “all new purchases,” noted that the “Primary Console” setting does not bypass it, and stated that license expiry is “not a sign of an account restriction.”
Those responses are likely from Sony’s AI chatbot, not a human employee. So while official PlayStation Support channels were telling customers the policy is real, it may have been an automated response rather than a deliberate confirmation.
After that screenshot circulated, some players managed to reach actual Sony employees. Those live support agents said Sony has not implemented PS5 DRM as an official policy, and that players who bought digital games in late March would still be able to access them normally after 30 days.
So, within the same support infrastructure, Sony was giving completely opposite answers to the same question.
