Google Chrome Prepares PlayReady DRM Support for Windows 11

Google is getting ready to add Microsoft’s PlayReady DRM support to Chrome on Windows 11, helping the browser match Edge in streaming high-quality content like 4K videos.

PlayReady DRM, developed by Micrsofot, is the same technology used by platforms like Netflix and Disney+ to protect premium content, especially 4K videos. Until now, Chrome has relied solely on Google’s Widevine DRM, which has limited playback quality on certain services.

Google has been working on supporting hardware-secure PlayReady playback in Chromium since November 2024 or earlier. A tracking bug was created to oversee progress, and the feature is currently behind an experimental flag.

According to the bug report, Chrome doesn’t support PlayReady DRM on ARM64 with WOW emulation or on Windows x86 platforms. At one stage, Chromium is expected to support both hardware-secure Widevine and PlayReady side by side.

The flag became available in April. Once enabled, Chrome registers Microsoft’s PlayReady module and can play protected content using hardware-level security, required for some of the highest-quality streams.

“Enable or disable the use of hardware-secure Content Decryption Module (CDM) for protected content playback. – Windows”

In June this year, Google made changes to Chrome 138. First, it disabled the feature to fix how Chrome checks if PlayReady should be used. Just 11 days later, development resumed to enable it again for further testing.

PlayReady hardware secure playback on Windows is implemented behind the
feature flag, `HardwareSecureDecryption` which was disabled by default.
Now, we want to enable it.

Because PlayReady may use persistent hardware identifiers to ensure secure playback, Google is also adding a new privacy indicator in the browser’s address bar (omnibox). This will let users know when a site is accessing protected content and give them the option to allow or block it—similar to how Chrome handles access to location, camera, or microphone.

With PlayReady support, Chrome users will be able to stream premium video content in higher quality. This brings Chrome closer to Edge, which already supports PlayReady on Windows.

How to Enable PlayReady DRM Support in Chrome

If you’re using a stable version of Chrome (138 or later) on Windows 11, you can try PlayReady support by enabling the experimental flag:

1. Launch Chrome
2. Go to chrome://flags
3. Search for Hardware Secure Decryption
4. Enable the flag and restart Chrome

How to Test and Confirm PlayReady is Working

1. Open Chrome
2. Visit a supported demo page like bitmovin.com/demos/drm or Shaka Player’s DRM test site
3. Play a protected video
4. Open chrome://media-internals in a new tab
5. Check under the CDMs tab. It should show something like:

Key System: com.microsoft.playready.recommendation

Robustness: Hardware Secure

Name: PlayReady Content Decryption Module

Status: Enabled

Chrome is preparing to launch PlayReady DRM support on Windows 11. The feature is working in stable version already and will include a new privacy UI, but it remains disabled by default as development continues.

That’s not all. Chrome is finally getting Vertical Tabs and may detect your location when open, allowing for region-specific adjustments that help comply with local laws and regulations. Additionally, Chrome might block spam site notifications that you rarely engage with.

Edge users have had PlayReady DRM for a while. Soon, Chrome on Windows 11 will get it too. What’s your take on this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.