PS News Will Future PlayStation Game Titles require a key to get fully playable?

When you play your beloved Video Games on your PC, you already know about all the procedures during the Installation by entering a Key, which allows you to install and/or to play the Games, you recently bought. And when this is a "everyday's business" by a PC Gamer and nothing new, Game Titles released on a home console never applied such a system, which meant that if you bought a Game, you was able to do whatever you wanted to do. But this could change in future, according to a new Patent filled by Sony, which would not based - as they call it: "BLOCKCHAIN-BASED DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT" - on a traditional system, as above mentioned. There are many speculations how this system could work and it's still unknown if this would mean a better protection against Piracy or having full control about your purchases.​

Abstract Description and Claims

• 
  BLOCKCHAIN-BASED DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
  
  Generating a rights blockchain storing rights of a user, including: receiving an enrollment request and a public key from the user; verifying that the user has a private key corresponding to the public key; generating a user identifier using the public key; and generating and delivering the rights blockchain having a genesis block including the user identifier to the user.
  
  
  1. A method for generating a rights blockchain storing rights of a user, the method comprising: receiving an enrollment request and a public key from the user; verifying that the user has a private key corresponding to the public key; generating a user identifier using the public key; and generating and delivering the rights blockchain having a genesis block including the user identifier to the user.
  2. A system for generating a rights blockchain storing rights of a user, the system comprising: a registration authority configured to receive an enrollment request and a public key from the user, the registration authority also configured to verify that the user has a private key corresponding to the public key, generate a user identifier using the public key, and generate and deliver the rights blockchain having a genesis block including the user identifier to the user.
  3. A method for performing digital rights management using a rights blockchain storing rights of a user, the method comprising: receiving a protected content including a content identifier, a scrambled essence, and an encrypted control word; receiving the rights blockchain and credentials of the user; searching the rights blockchain for a first block that contains the content identifier of the protected content; decrypting the encrypted control word when a signature and usage rights in the first block are determined to be valid; and descrambling the scrambled essence using the decrypted control word.
  4. A method for generating a rights blockchain storing rights of a user to consume an item of content, the method comprising: receiving an enrollment request and a public key from the user and verifying that the user has a private key corresponding to the public key; generating a genesis block including a user identifier of the user using the public key; and generating and adding a new block having a content identifier of the item of content and associated usage rights.

Even if Sony mentions to use a "blockchain-based DRM-solution", it is still premature to tell how this System would work in common practice. It could be based on a similar system like on Steam, a traditional way like for physical PC Games with Keys or even a completely new system. And since patent fillings doesn't mean that those would be included in future (Sony did a similar Patent filling back in 2006 before the PS3 was even released), it could even lead into nothing and everything would stay in normal like it is today.

Infact when you read the complete patent filling, it sounds more like Sony wants to have full control onto your purchases, which would mean that you can't do any longer with your Game Titles whatever you wanted, but they could. A common example would be that your PlayStation Console and your PSN Account has to be connected online while gaming. Microsoft still has some headaches with this idea back at E3 2013.

And since this patent filling describes that DRM-solution not only for Video Games, but also for Movies, Music and so on - what do you think - is this a good idea? What are your experiences using DRM content on Games or Movies for other platforms? You are welcome to discuss this with the others.

For the full Patent filling with the complete Description and all Patent Claims: Click here​

 

Interesting, but I don't see this affecting anything besides having something physical to keep besides your receipt.

 

after sony laughed at the always on thing from microsoft? lol

 

Sonic mania at launch had to always be online. Honestly even the idea of this is just stupid as most gamers enjoy offline play due to the fact internet can go out too easily so it would be sonys downfall imo.

 

In nearest future, games will be encrypted by keys downloaded from SEN (currently they are on the optical disc in area unreadable by PC ODD). And who knows, maybe they will be decrypting even on the fly which means mandatory permanent internet connection (i.e user put disc in drive, and from internet system retrieving executable to tmp (flushed every time when game is close)).

The day which such cancer will born, I'll stop buying games and of course such consoles.

 

The day which such cancer will born, I'll stop buying games and of course such consoles.

I think many will. I certainly will. this will kill sony's gaming business which if I remember reading, is the only division of sony that yields a profit. these companies should just accept that piracy is going to happen.

I remember reading about some pc gaming company that took drm off of their games, then started seeing a surge in sales. face it - gamers don't want to deal with drm. drm = death of the gaming industry. thanks so much microsoft and sony and countless pc gaming companies.

 

Similar system works on UltraHD BD-Video players (as I heard) and many peoples still buying them.

The Witcher 2 have mandatory internet connection all the time but servers was failing, peoples was in fury so they released patch without this crap and boom, sales going up and their PR still riding on this.

 

From the patent this doesn't seem related to PlayStation games at all. It's a general patent for DRM on anything, they might even just be patenting it so they can license it to other people.

 

didnt sony and Microsoft try this a few years ago? they were saying that even if you bought the disc, you could only play it at home and one friends house.. something like that.

 

didnt sony and Microsoft try this a few years ago? they were saying that even if you bought the disc, you could only play it at home and one friends house.. something like that.

Microsoft announced it and backed down when Sony said they wouldn't do it as it looked like xbox sales would be 0.

 

sony backed down? you would think they would be the first for it lol.

 

I think Sony gets judged a little harshly. Protecting your product and business is something that has to be done.
The only things they have done that I really have problems with is how they removed other os and the way they want you to buy your old games again from psn when they are basically just an iso with a rapper just seems like a cheep/wrong way to make money to me.