Sony Rolls Out 30-Day Online DRM Check-In For PlayStation Digital Games (tomshardware.com)
- Reference: 0183032214
- News link: https://games.slashdot.org/story/26/04/28/1919200/sony-rolls-out-30-day-online-drm-check-in-for-playstation-digital-games
- Source link: https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/playstation/sony-rolls-out-30-day-online-drm-check-in-for-playstation-digital-games-players-could-temporarily-lose-access-if-they-dont-keep-their-consoles-online
> In the info page of an affected game, you'd see a new validity period and a "remaining time" deadline. At first, this seemed like a software bug, but now PlayStation Support has confirmed its authenticity to multiple users. PlayStation owners are [2]furious about the change.
>
> From what we've seen, this DRM is intended for digital game copies. It works by instating a mandatory online check-in where you have to connect to the internet within a rolling 30-day window or risk losing access to the game. Afterward, you can still restore access, but you'll need an internet connection to renew the game's license first. So far, it seems like only games installed after the recent March firmware update are affected.
>
> Affected customers report that setting your PS4 or PS5 as the primary console doesn't alleviate this check-in policy either. No matter what, any game you download from now on will feature this new requirement, effectively eliminating the concept of offline play for even single-player titles.
[1] https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/playstation/sony-rolls-out-30-day-online-drm-check-in-for-playstation-digital-games-players-could-temporarily-lose-access-if-they-dont-keep-their-consoles-online
[2] https://x.com/NikTek/status/2048888556974948736?s=20
and an exploit will be published in 3, 2, 1 ... (Score:2)
As a friend of mine in an uncharacteristic fit of insight once said, as long as there is a decision point that can be discovered, yes and the code goes this way, no and the code goes that way, it is in principle possible to write a patch to circumvent any DRM.
Here, there is a timeout test.
Need I say more?
Re: (Score:3)
How much money are they even loosing that this was needed? Seems like anyone pirating games is going to find a way around it anyway so it only screws legit players not connected to the internet.
Re: (Score:2)
> As a friend of mine in an uncharacteristic fit of insight once said, as long as there is a decision point that can be discovered, yes and the code goes this way, no and the code goes that way, it is in principle possible to write a patch to circumvent any DRM.
Not to disparage your friend but... that a thing is possible in principle does not necessitate it being possible in practicality.
Worse, it is unhelpful to adopt a position of "yet another restriction will inevitably " be circumvented. Side-loading is more difficult on Android than it has ever been. Jailbreaking on iOS is more difficult on Apple than it has ever been. Piracy is more difficult than it has ever been (since the inception of the Internet). Every time a convenient torrent indexer is shut do
Astro Bot 2: Now Astro Bot Has Visible Pores (Score:2)
I earnestly do not understand why anyone would subject themselves to this sort of abuse.
Re: (Score:2)
If you made the mistake of buying into the platform you're faced with a decision:
1. Rationalize your continuing with the platform
2. Tossing the platform and choosing a different platform
3. Giving up on the various platforms as all suspect and doing something else with your life
Substitute platform for anything that you have to invest a non-trivial amount of cognitive focus, time, money, etc. It's not like your abuser is going to show their stripes from the get go - if they did, you would have already mov
Sony Is Still Alive? (Score:3)
Why does anyone buy their products? Sony went form perhaps the most admired name in electronics to a fermenting cesspit of garbage and over priced electronics, as well as a predatory and usurious media company. I don't know why anyone buys anything from them today.
Piracy is the only preservation (Score:1)
Of course you don't own or control digital games in any way. You never did. They just altered the deal to make it more obvious, same as when Nintendont introduced their stupid "digital gamecards" to make switching between multiple consoles even more dumb stupid and terrible. Future access to the digital games you purchased and "own" will require piracy.
That's sounds exactly like a crime (Score:2)
IANAL but I guess some SONY managers confused maybe place and time in an attempt to reassign properties.
Re: (Score:2)
Note the strategic use of "At this time" and then an example in the past, rather than a denial that it isn't happening in the near future. It will be happening going forward.
What's the business purpose of this? (Score:2)
I'm trying to figure out why they're requiring a "check in" every 30 days to retain your digital software that you PURCHASED.
Is this some sort of piracy prevention so users can't copy the games out to other consoles? That kind of piracy can't be any worse than the physical game copying or yore so what kind of money could they possibly be saving by screwing over their customers like this?
Can you fiddle the system date ? (Score:2)
Eg keep on resetting the date to 1st May
Re: (Score:2)
> Eg keep on resetting the date to 1st May
The Eternal Communist.
Flawed.... (Score:2)
> No matter what, any game you download from now on will feature this new requirement, effectively eliminating the concept of offline play for even single-player titles.
I'm not trying to defend Sony's decision, though I do at least understand it. I just take issue with this overly flawed interpretation on how it affects gamers. The number of people that would be able to download a digital game, and then never connect to the internet again, is low. It's non-zero, and I acknowledge that. I just don't see how that in any way comes close to "effectively eliminating" offline play.
Phone home to play, for life ... (Score:2)
> No matter what, any game you download from now on will feature this new requirement, effectively eliminating the concept of offline play for even single-player titles.
Putting an end to any silly, lingering ideas that you own what you bought...
Does this mean that any offline (single-player, stand-alone) games will stop working if/when Sony decides to stop supporting a "license check" for them, or will Sony (a) patch the game and/or (b) do the games have some sort of workaround builtin for that situation.
I mean (Score:2)
I don't understand why anyone is surprised or angry. This was always going to happen for digital only copies of games. Just like I don't understand the surprise or anger when a failing live-service game shuts downs its servers (rendering the game unplayable).
However, I also take issue with the article claiming that this effectively eliminates offline play for single player games. Because it doesn't. You get 30 days offline. You had to be online to download the game to begin with, so what's so hard about con
Don't care (Score:3)
If you buy a platform from a company that once infected their customer's PCs with a rootkit, you deserve whatever Sony choses to inflict on you.
Enjoy.
Re: (Score:1)
This is illegal in Germany,
Re: Don't care (Score:2)
I am old enough to have had does audio CDs back in the day. And the whole PS3 Linux fiasco was another example of them pulling the rug out from under our feet.
Re: (Score:2)
Lots of people simply don't know about this. They don't deserve any problems just because they've never been told the truth about how big corporations are allowed to commit crimes with impunity, and Sony are one of the criminal ones.
Re: (Score:2)
Don't kid yourself: they're ALL "criminal ones".