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

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  • This is awesome, I got a ps4 because of great features like this, but what about dlna, suspend resume, and other promised features?

  • Cool can’t wait!!

  • PS2 classics should be playable on PS4 & Vita

  • That looks very well done! This update has me excited to no end. The one thing I’m wondering: Will sub-accounts also be able to use this feature? Because I know they can’t use most other SHARE features.

  • Would ps4 players be able to share play with ps3 users for certain games like lego batman 3? And would it ever be possible to create a party with a ps3 user as long as the ps4 is host?

  • this is similar to what a lot of psp games had you guys should get this feature over to the vita especially via lan that I assure you would make me buy more games

  • sounds awesome but will it be bug free day one and do we need good Internet download and upload speeds just for this to work perfectly without delays plus slow downs too. My area for ISP are the worst ever, unless ISP step their game up by offering better speeds don’t think its worth the time. :)

  • So how about if both people own the game? can we do this feature for more then the 1 hour time limit?

  • Would be cool if you could share a game to the Vita. Kinda like remote play, but with second-player features and stuff.

  • Yes Finley playstation we are slowly but surely taking over the game industry keep up the great updates like this n people will be trading in there Xbox can’t wait for this n listening to music as we play but it would be sweet if u turn your ps on n music playlist starts as a option instead of the Sony music in the back round

  • Why would it suggest friends when I can’t even get notified when my friends I have are online / offline? Why hasn’t this little thing been implemented yet?!

    How about when you receive a message or earn a trophy in game, pressing the PS button in a certain amount of time brings you directly to the message / trophy, and only taking up 1/3 of the screen or something.

    Speaking of messaging, when will the messaging be fixed to where I can view the messages I’ve received instantaneously? I always get a notification of a message, but am never able to view until 5 minutes or so later.

    When will PS store actually load on the first try? Oh actually, it just loaded after 3 minutes of sitting.

    PSN ID name changes?! Seriously, when is this coming?! Once these features are implemented I will be extremely happy with Playstation. For now, I’m not, because last gen consoles had these features, why pay 500 dollars for something that has less features?! Next gen consoles should have all of last gen consoles features and new ones, not taking over a year to get only SOME of the old features.

    It also is not my internet, worked flawlessly on PS3 and Xbox 360.

  • that’s soo cool!! If the timer runs out would my friend be able to join again instantly or would there be a cooldown time

  • If you invite your friend to play with you can you only do it on local co op games or could I also do it on let’s say gta v

  • Does this feature work with games that require a separate fee to play?

    Example – Final Fantasy XIV a realm reborn ?

    Thanks

  • Will we ever in the future see us being able to have more than one guest in share play?

  • Exactly what FlameScythe said: “Will sub-accounts be able to use this? The share button is pretty useless for sub-accounts at the moment. Either let us upgrade to master or stop locking features!” Please don’t ignore this question.

  • Does the spectate mode last for one hour as well?

  • Dang man 1hr limit i knew it sounded too good to be true but can’t wait to see it in action

  • I have PS Plus on my US account, but I also have a Japanese account on the same PS4 that I use quite often. Will I be able to do all this on that account as well?

  • Quick Question: In the 8 party chat can they all watch you play the game?

  • I was wondering if you guys might do a thing with organizing main screen when turning on the PS4. If not I would like if you guys made it where the user can put their games into a folder like how the TV/Video sections are instead of them just running along the screen. I would really appreciate it if you guys could make that happen and I want to say that you guys are doing great with the PS4.

  • How about you Share the PS Plus Edition of Driveclub so I can Play it?

  • I cant wait for share play but hopefully see a way to disable trophies when sharing a game with a friend . because I like to work on my trophies and don’t want a buddy that I share a game with end up getting a trophy that I haven’t got yet to sync to my account

  • Can’t wait for this update. But I am concerned about the 1 hour limit. Better than nothing ofcourse but I hope there’s a way to extend the hour or restart the hour without losing game data.

  • Great job sony PlayStation forever xbox cant beat the share play thanks sony for making my childhood great and making all your fans happy :D

  • Will sub account users be able to use this feature?

  • Finally, this is one of the coolest features of the PS4 and along with the YouTube direct uploading will be one of the most used, I can’t wait to be able to try out games my friends have to see if I like them and vice-versa, getting to play co-op with friends w/o needing to own the game, I mean really how cool is this, this is why I’ve always been a PlayStation guy, and with these kinds of innovations I always will be.:

  • So say I’m playing a sports game like Madden, if our hour is up we can just reconnect and finish a game if we’re in the middle of one? Or does the reconnecting process back us out of the game completely so we have to start over?

  • Amazing…

  • Agree with Mikaelkid17 (#111) entirely. Don’t have the PS4 yet but the lack of these basics is making me question ever getting it. Also, not being able to delete games from your trophy list when its a feature that’s been asked for and on the share blog upvote page for more than 5 years.

    Regarding this social feature, and I know I’m not alone on this, I really hope it doesn’t ruin trophies. If its like that earlier glimpse where each trophy states “Earned By: xx” then it would work but not if anybody can just hand over a difficult trophy to a skilled player. That would undermine a whole aspect of trophies in the first place.

  • Would be nice if we can get the ability to record party chat with our capture cards.

  • This PlayStation 4 Firmware 2.0 is interesting and will be looking forward to trying it out once I have a PS4 of my own!

    One question: Are all games going to be compatible with the Share Play feature?

  • There is still more yet to be revealed

  • I’m really looking forward to this! Finally I can play some towerfall with my cousin :)

  • hi i want to know how many megabytes have to download and upload have to use either the share play thanks

  • It’m from Spain with connection and 10MB 100MB low rise I work well is optical fiber

  • This looks awesome. I just hope it works on my system since I can never get Party Chat to work. :(

  • You know what would be a great feature? A wishlist in the store, that would also alert us when something we want goes on sale, a la Steam.

  • Why is Shareplay only limited to 1 hour?

  • Major props for implementing the Share Play!! But…. is there a possibility we may eventually see the hour session removed eventually? That’s… kind of a pretty big problem. I’d rather just play on the PC with a friend where I know he won’t drop out in the middle of a boss fight than sit there constantly worrying about how much time we have left, paranoidly exiting and re-upping the session to make sure we have time, and panicking during more intense moments on whether or not my player 2 asset is about to become a major liability.

    The feature itself is fantastic and truly a stride forward, but the 60 minutes seems like an artificial limitation which will completely cripple the feature. It’s fun to game with friends. It’s not fun to force one of those friends to have their connection drop constantly. If the 60 minutes was implemented to reduce stress on PSN by too much traffic being routed through it, then could we perhaps shift to an inactivity timeout?

    Keep up the good work, guys. Just inventing this is a major stride forward. I hope Sony can remain one step ahead of the game and fix the time limit issue to avoid alienating gamers from its more appealing uses.

  • Cool feature and an amazing way to have games self promoted to non-owners.

    Now if we could only fix the overall UI. Could we at least get things put into categories to minimize the clutter. i.e. a hybrid of the current UI with the UI design of the TV & Video menu where Netflix and Crackle are found.

  • So can I have 2 people playing locally and 1 person playing via share play? This would be fantastic for LBP3 so my girlfriend and I can play at home, and my friend can play from his home (he lingers at our apartment when he comes over, so if he could play from a distance, that would be great haha)

  • please give us the ability to change our names, will gladly pay.

  • The 1 hour limit seems a little inconvenient but 1 hour is better than 0 hours!!! :D After the hour is up are you able to immediately re-share the game??

  • I really dont like this feature. On ps3 all you had to do is log into someones ps3 without going over the number of ps3’s you could use. And pretty much share the game. Doing this on the ps4 will pretty much boost sales for the ps4 and you could even charge for this feature.

  • So with #Shareplay being limited to 1 hour only …. Can you restart the shareplay again after your 1hour is up ???

  • Didn’t read all the comments, so not sure if this has been asked already: If this is going to work like local co-op, will we both see a split screen like if we were in the same room, or each his(hers) own screen?

  • So, does Share Play give us the possibility to use the same functions as ig one would have the game? Like in Fifa Co-op Seasons?

  • So as of right now, Share Play is all streaming video. Are they any plans to update the feature if both players own the game, that way game data is the only thing transferred, and the other player won’t have to worry about reduced frame rate?

  • Keep it coming Playstation. 1 thing I’m wondering is if you start share play+The Playroom can you privately view and control that too o.o

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