Skip to main content

Here's how PS4's SharePlay feature works like virtual couch co-op

FIFA 15 Liverpool vs. Manchester City
Play against your friend in FIFA even if they don't own it.
Image Credit: EA Sports
@jeffgrubb

You don’t have to own a game in order to play it with your friends anymore.

Sony is updating the PlayStation 4 next week, and it is adding a feature called SharePlay. We’ve explained how it works before, but now Sony is sharing a video that provides a visual explanation of the process. The big idea is that it lets you join your friends virtually so that you can play games alongside them.

Check out the video to see how it works:

June 5th: The AI Audit in NYC

Join us next week in NYC to engage with top executive leaders, delving into strategies for auditing AI models to ensure fairness, optimal performance, and ethical compliance across diverse organizations. Secure your attendance for this exclusive invite-only event.

Here’s some bullet points that may also help:

  • You start SharePlay from the Party menu.
  • Here you can start your own SharePlay group, and you can also see your friend’s groups.
  • In the Party menu, you can “give the controller to a friend.”
  • This enables them to play through a section of the game for you.
  • The host must have the PlayStation Plus subscription service for this feature, but the guest player does not.
  • You can play a local multiplayer match of something like FIFA 15 using SharePlay even if the guest doesn’t own it.
  • You’ll just need to virtually hand them the second controller and set that to play as one of the teams.
  • This multiplayer feature does require that both players have PS Plus.
  • No matter how you’re using SharePlay, every session has a 60-minute limit.
  • Nothing in SharePlay requires the guest to download anything as Sony is streaming the video instantly.