After days of speculation and theorising, Sony has finally released a statement about the 30-day timers on new digital game purchases on PS4 and PS5.
Earlier this week it was reported that the new version 13.20 update for the PlayStation 5 console appeared to have also brought with it a form of digital rights management (DRM) in which digitally purchased games have to be verified.
The theory tested by numerous YouTube channels was that any digital game purchased on or after a certain date appeared to have a 30-day timer applied, suggesting that if the player didn’t play the game for 30 days, they would have to connect their console online to renew the license and reset the timer to 30 days again.
When players started reporting their timers disappearing, a new theory emerged that the 30-day timer was only a temporary one to avoid pirates using a refund exploit, and that the licence would become permanent after 14 days.
Now Sony has officially confirmed that players don’t have to verify the games every 30 days, and that the initial timer is indeed a one-off check.
“Players can continue to access and play their purchased games as usual,” a spokesperson for PlayStation told Game File. “A one-time online check is required after purchase to confirm the game’s license, after which no further check-ins are needed.”
While the spokesperson didn’t go into detail on exactly why the online check has been added, the most popular current theory is that it prevents pirates from making use of an exploit in PlayStation’s refund system.
PlayStation allows players to automatically claim a refund on digital game purchases if they’re within 14 days of purchase, and if the game hasn’t been installed. Resetera user Andshrew theorised that pirates were buying games, using hacked PS4 consoles to extract the indefinite licenses applied to those games, then refunding the games without installing them.
By adding a new 30-day timer to the games by default, then changing it to an indefinite one after 14 days – as appears to now be happening – this method is theoretically blocked, because the user won’t be able to extract an indefinite license until after the refund window has closed.
Regardless of the reason for the decision, Sony’s statement confirms that digital purchases won’t have to be continually verified going forward, which will come as some relief to players who were worried that a lack of internet connection or an eventual long-term shutdown of PS4 or PS5 servers would render such games unplayable.
