A new quirk–whether it’s a bug or a feature remains unclear–has begun affecting PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 owners with digital game purchases. It appears the systems’ latest updates have introduced a 30-day online license check for digital games, leaving those who have extended internet outages without access to certain games.

Several users, including the game-accessibility Twitter account Does it play?, have reported that all new PlayStation Store purchases–those made before March 2026 appear to be unaffected–feature a 30-day timer that shows when you will need to connect to the internet again before losing access. This timer doesn’t appear to be visible on the PS5, but according to Does it play?, it is still being tracked in the background.

While unlikely to be a tangible issue for most players, there are definitely use-cases that could see a PS4 or PS5 disconnected from the internet for extended periods of time. It’s unclear as of now if this was rolled out as an intentional feature or was a bug included with the recent firmware updates. The online-support bot on the official PlayStation website implies it was done on purpose, but AI has certainly given us false information in the past. GameSpot has reached out to Sony and will update this post if and when we receive a response.

Continue Reading at GameSpot A new quirk–whether it’s a bug or a feature remains unclear–has begun affecting PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 owners with digital game purchases. It appears the systems’ latest updates have introduced a 30-day online license check for digital games, leaving those who have extended internet outages without access to certain games.Several users, including the game-accessibility Twitter account Does it play?, have reported that all new PlayStation Store purchases–those made before March 2026 appear to be unaffected–feature a 30-day timer that shows when you will need to connect to the internet again before losing access. This timer doesn’t appear to be visible on the PS5, but according to Does it play?, it is still being tracked in the background.Potential major DRM issue rolled out by PlayStation (and Xbox as well, allegedly). All new PSN purchases now have a 30 day validation countdown. Already investigating to find out more details. pic.twitter.com/4hqMdWfJ2T — Does it play? (@DoesItPlay1) April 25, 2026 While unlikely to be a tangible issue for most players, there are definitely use-cases that could see a PS4 or PS5 disconnected from the internet for extended periods of time. It’s unclear as of now if this was rolled out as an intentional feature or was a bug included with the recent firmware updates. The online-support bot on the official PlayStation website implies it was done on purpose, but AI has certainly given us false information in the past. GameSpot has reached out to Sony and will update this post if and when we receive a response.Continue Reading at GameSpot  Read MoreGameSpot – All Content