Sony's recent PlayStation DRM controversy sent the gaming world into a panic — but the final verdict is far less catastrophic than feared. Here's the full story and what digital GTA 6 buyers on PS5 need to know.
Part 1
For about a week, PlayStation owners were convinced Sony had quietly introduced one of the most anti-consumer DRM policies in console history. The fear: digital games on PlayStation 4 and 5 would stop working if your console went offline for more than 30 days. With Grand Theft Auto 6 arriving on November 19 and priced at what will likely be $70 or more, this was no small concern.
Part 2
Rumors of this came after Sony pushed the version 13.20 firmware update in late March 2026, and players noticed something strange: newly purchased digital games had a 30-day timer attached to their licenses. YouTuber Lance McDonald flagged it publicly, and within days the gaming internet was stress-testing the system — pulling console batteries, taking systems offline, and checking whether setting a PS4 or PS5 as the "primary" console would override the timer. It didn't, which made things look worse.
Part 3
PlayStation Support, in a direct reply to a user, confirmed the 30-day timer was real and not a bug. Sony itself said absolutely nothing about it. That silence was the most alarming part — a one-sentence clarification would have killed the story immediately. Instead, for days, the loudest official voice on the matter was a support rep confirming something that would have been catastrophic if true.