Sony Confirms One-Time DRM Check for Digital PS4/PS5 Games

Sony has quietly reshaped the terms of digital ownership for PlayStation players, introducing a one-time online license verification for PS4 and PS5 games — a response to the age-old tension between protecting commerce and honoring the buyer's sense of possession. The change is modest in practice, requiring only a single internet connection to authenticate a purchase before allowing indefinite offline play, yet it arrives amid unresolved questions about server longevity and security vulnerabilities that remind us how fragile digital ownership can be. In an era where physical media fades and li