Check Out Share Play in Action on PS4

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Check Out Share Play in Action on PS4

The PS4 system software update v2.00, codenamed Masamune, will be available to download on Tuesday, October 28th. One of the features included in the update that I’m most excited about is Share Play, and we put together a quick video to show you how this innovative feature works. Check it out!

As we’ve said before, the best way to think about Share Play is like a “virtual couch.” PlayStation 4 will create an online local co-op experience by allowing you to invite a friend to join your game for up to one hour at a time — even when they don’t own a copy of it. Share Play has three main functions:

  • Share Screen — Share your screen with a friend, allowing them to spectate. This is ideal for PS4 owners that want to watch their friends play a game and provide helpful tips. PlayStation Plus is not required to use this.
  • Hand over my controller — Pass your controller to a friend, virtually, and watch them play. Your friend does not need to own, or even download the game, in order to use this feature. This is perfect for introducing your friends to new games. The host will need to be a PlayStation Plus member, but the guest does not.
  • Hand over the second player controller — If a game supports local multiplayer, you can have your friend join as player two. Again, the visitor does not need to own, or download the game in order to use this feature. Both players will need PlayStation Plus to use this feature.

Share Play pushes the social interactivity of PlayStation 4 to new heights and we can’t wait for everyone to try it out. What games are you looking forward to trying Share Play with?

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172 Comments

14 Author Replies

  • So could this be a possible solution to the only 2 people limit on multiplayer? lets say i have a game and I’m host i also have one local partner on my console and let’s say I invite a guest through shareplay and they also have one local guest with them does everyone have access to the multiplayer game?

    • Think of it this way: Share Play is like having a friend sitting next to you on the couch, except here you’re doing it virtually.

  • So can I have a friend Battlefield 4 with me at the same time, or would we have to take turns with the controller? That would be really cool if you could play it at the same time.

  • When will sub-accounts be able to upgrade to master accounts?

  • Me and my brother are going to LOVE this feature!!! My only question is if the Second Player Controller option will also be limited to one hour?

  • looks really cool, but i don’t get the ps+ exclusives. i thought the limit was the one hour thing, so why add another? maybe ps+ members should get two hours or something. and is there anything stopping people from making multiple accounts so they can play with their friends for more than one session? can you stop before the time runs out and resume later so you don’t have to make an hour long commitment when you start? and i agree with #50, it would not be good if it can be used for trophy boosting.

    anyways, i’m excited to try it out. maybe i can let some of my friends check out dragon age inquisition and they can let me try assassin’s creed unity. i’m also excited for the full 2.0 update on the 28th, finally! =]

  • Excuse me but, if there are no limits to how many times we can SharePlay, why is there a timer in the place? I’m wondering because, itss not like my friends are going to mooch off my play session all day, We’ll use this to try games and not as a permanent solution to borrowing games. Thank yiu in advane

  • whats up with the number of friends online in the video?

  • this is amazing, i even forgot about DriveClub PS+ edition!!
    cant wait to try tthis

  • What about friend notifications of coming online/offline???????????????

  • Just a guess, but maybe they have the time limit to discourage people from say, buying a game, starting a shareplay session, and leaving their PS4 on more or less indefinitely (all night for example) for their friend to play/beat the game. This may potentially kill purchases for shorter/smaller games or games with little replayability.

  • Now this will begin the many request from people on my friends list requesting to share a game, it might get a little annoying after a while but i can see many more PS4 owners will sign up for PS+ Now.

  • Is this available for all PS4 games? Will this feature work with Far Cry 4 as well, since they have their own share/co-op feature, that is limited to 10 codes?

  • Man, another feature behind a paywall. And a staggered one, just to be more confusing .

    I hate social aspects of videogames. All of them.

  • Fix psn iOS app server. Can never log on or send messages without errors.

  • How fast does your internet need to be?

  • Do developers/publishers have to ability to disable this feature in the game? I suppose this also means that SharePlay for multiplayer can only be done for Local MP games which is why Far Cry 4 is so special?

    Can we get the multiplayer sharing part for PSVita as well via Ad-hoc? PSP has had it for years….

  • what I am looking forward to the most is posting my veido game plays on youtube that is what I am looking forward to the most :) and I would like to make a suggestion to the playstation people this and its this: if you guys ever deside to make a ps vita 2 in the near future or what ever my suggestion is with the camera icon when you go into it and when it is on and this is my suggestion) can you guys make it like when you go into it when you double tap it can you guys make it so that it will zoom in closer and take better and clearer pictures and better shots. ( that is my suggestion to you guys thank you!.

  • All the more reason to become a PSX Plus member! Awesome features!

  • Honestly, gamers should be satisfied with 2 free hours of gameplay per 24 hour period… but you know gamers… better to give them everything, then slowly trickle away their rights.

    #yeahimdatguy

  • looks great!

  • Just think how incredible the PS4 will be by the time I finally get to own one! (maybe by December 2015 if I’m lucky) you people are too spoiled.

  • @komentra just curious, but why would you care if someone pays someone else to play their games for them? I don’t understand the worry.

  • This sounds absolutely amazing and like a fantastic way to play with friends and family that live apart. That is just amazing.

  • This is such a cool feature. Bravo!

  • Okay question, would this work for multiplayer that has a splitscreen option. For example, call of duty ghosts can play 2 players splitscreen.so me and my friend in the same couch playing. So if I have the game and invite him via shareplay, will he be able play multiplayer with me? I know this probably wouldn’t work for a game like Destiny since only one person can play it. Thanks guys . This is awesome by the way :)

  • Can sub accounts use this feature if the master account has PS Plus?

  • Solid update! I also can’t wait to see the theme changing feature!

  • This is the best innovation to date on any gaming platform, PC included.

  • SharePlay to a Vita… please

  • Please give us the leaked and probably fake side panel pop ups for game chat, trophies and joining games etc. All this stuff you are bringing is OK but you need to pay attention to the operation of the UI. It needs more work. Too many key presses to creat chat sessions and invite mates. Do it yourself – its too many buttons. Click, wait, select, are you sure, yes, do it!!!! You need to have an option to bypass that stuff and more imeadiately start and invite a mate to chat.

    Those fake side bars looked incredibly good.

    Remember this is a game machine first and formost and so that experience needs to be sharp, streamlined and focussed. Turning on, starting a game, joining chat, accepting a game invite, reviewing a trophy, pausing a game. Core functions that should be descriptive, fast and accessable.

    End of rant.

  • Very few games have local multiplayer these days (aside from Nintendo games), so this SharePlay thing should also work with online multiplayer.

  • I dont like it, its like too much spoiler. I would prefer to share my digital downloads to my friends…

  • I can’t wait to play with my brothers lol!

  • Andrew serious question if you could please answer. Whether you know the answer or not.

    Is share play timed at 60 minutes due to licensing issues?
    and another one.
    If I’m playing 2 players, just like you showed in Fifa, and the time takes longer than 60 minutes, what happens to that game if I have to invite my friend back in for another 60 minute session?

  • Do you guys think you could implement an offline mode for trophies like ps3 and vita in a later update? Aside from that this is a must have feature that I’m looking forward to as well as others. Good job sony.

  • Would it be possible to just start the countdown whenever you give the controller to another person? I don’t see why simply watching a game would be under the hour time limit, given that all of the games can be publicly streamed even easier.

    And it’s slightly disappointing to have had the two-player limit question skipped, but I’ll manage. Hopefully it could be expanded to four in the future though…? I’m still holding out hope for an online Towerfall.

  • It’s now a problem that the days till 28th October will go slowly :( But the excitement after school on 28th should be too much. Will this also work on GTA V ?

  • Can anyone tell the required internet speed for it? 1mb up and down, will it work?

  • Can’t wait for Tuesday!!!!!!

  • 1 hour limit, feature is useless then.

  • Fantastic feature! now if only we could know how much connection speed we need for this to operate good enough?

  • 2 questions about this feature if someone from Sony could clarify.
    1. If the game to be shared is “online only” eg. Destiny will this still be a usable feature?
    2. If the game in couch co-op usually resorts to split screen, eg. COD Ghosts, will both players see a full screen through shareplay or will both see split screen as if they were both on the same system?
    Either way this is still a great feature I’m very much looking forward to using.

  • A privacy question… when you share your screen or hand over controller remotely, does the other party only see your game screen? Or will they also see your XMB and other screens, which may contain private information (including your friend list etc that you do not want to share)?

  • Dont like the fact that i wont earn trophies while playing in someones game

  • This is going to be awesome! For those that aren’t understanding the hour timer, you have to admit that if you could share play for however long you wanted, no one would ever buy any new games. The hour is long enough for someone to help you through a particularly tough part of a game and also for YOU to try out the game yourself, but still a short enough amount of time to where you are not basically pirating the game. Seems pretty cool! Cant wait for 2.0 so proud to call myself a PlayStation Gamer!

  • @Andrew Kelly so do i understand correctly:

    you can have only 1 friend in a share play party?
    share play party is a different party then the other pary chats we have already?
    at joining the share play party the timer is activated. Regardless of that the other player is watching, taking control, or joining for co-op?

    Would like to see this as follows:

    + Joining a normal chat party all the players inside of that party can define for themself if his/her session is open for watching for all the other party members, open for requesting to take control or open for joining. Or these options are only available on invitation. Or open for friends om their own friends list but closed/open for invitation for members in the party that are friends of friends.

    + Members can request taking control or joining for co-op or invite others fo in a normal party chat.

    + resume the session after the timer has passed, on the host side with the X button. This is much easier then starting a complete new share play party.

  • The updates are gonna start flowing followed by the blockbuster games im ready playstation

  • So is this limited to one player at a time? Or can we have up to 3 friends playing a multiplayer game at once?

  • is this share play available with every game

  • What I am curious about is the “signing in as a guest” during the multiplayer portion of Share Play. Will the friend be able to sign in to a second profile on the host PS4, or is it a temporary Guest profile?

    I ask because I was curious to see if, say, a friend has logged onto my PS4 before, would that same friend who is now at their own home be able to join a multiplayer session with me through Share Play, but use their own profile already on my system.

    Does that make sense? This would be useful for their own trophy gains and to keep their own progress if they were to play the game again on their own.

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