Sony is quietly dipping a toe back into DRM territory, and the irony is impossible to ignore. Reports of a new 30-day online check-in requirement for newly purchased digital PlayStation games have sparked instant flashbacks to the Xbox One reveal that Sony once used as a punching bag. The timing, the silence, and the déjà vu all make this feel like a slow-moving rerun of a show gamers never wanted renewed.
The situation started gaining traction after modder Lance McDonald and creators like Spawn Wave noticed that some newly purchased PS4 and PS5 digital titles were showing a license timer or refusing to launch offline after roughly a month without an internet connection. According to reporting, affected games appear to require an online check-in every 30 days to keep the license active, though Sony has not officially confirmed the policy. That uncertainty is exactly why players are uneasy. If it is a bug, Sony can say so and fix it. If it is a new DRM rule, people want to know why it exists and how far it reaches.
The comparisons to Microsoft’s infamous 2013 Xbox One DRM plan were immediate. Back then, Microsoft announced a system that required consoles to check in online every 24 hours. The backlash was so severe that the company reversed course before launch, but the damage lingered for years. Sony capitalized on that moment with a now legendary video showing how to share games on PlayStation. It was a clean, brutal jab that helped define the early PS4 narrative. Now, more than a decade later, Sony seems to be testing a softer version of the very thing it mocked.
Recent reporting suggests that PlayStation Support has even acknowledged the existence of a 30-day timer for newly purchased digital games, stating that if the console does not connect to the internet within that window, the license may expire until the system goes online again. This applies only to games purchased after the March 2026 update, and even setting a console as Primary does not bypass the requirement. That detail has only intensified the backlash, especially among players who remember Sony’s victory lap in 2013.
The cynical read is that Sony is trying to slip this in quietly, hoping most players will never notice because their consoles are always online anyway. A 30-day check-in is far more forgiving than Microsoft’s old 24-hour plan, but the principle is the same. It chips away at the idea of ownership in a digital era where games are increasingly tied to servers, accounts, and policies that can shift without warning. The fact that Sony once positioned itself as the champion of consumer-friendly gaming only makes this pivot feel more hollow.
What makes the whole situation even more ironic is how loudly Sony once celebrated Microsoft’s stumble. The company built goodwill on the idea that it understood gamers better, that it would never impose the kind of restrictions that nearly sank the Xbox One before it left the dock. Now, with a quieter hand and a longer leash, Sony appears to be testing the waters of the same DRM philosophy it once ridiculed.
Maybe this turns out to be a bug. Maybe Sony clarifies the situation and walks it back. Or maybe this is the start of a slow shift toward a future where digital ownership is more conditional than ever. Either way, the optics are unmistakable. Sony mocked the Xbox One for trying this. Now it is quietly trying it itself. And gamers have not forgotten the history.
