PS4 Share Play Will Have a Time Limit

The new Share Play feature on the Playstation 4 is apparently going to allow players to share their games with other console users who haven’t even bought the game in question. This means literally anyone with a PS4 console can enjoy multiplayer with friends who have Share Play compatible games, however, in a recent reveal by Sony on the service, it seems the amount of time you can use Share Play for will be restricted.

The feature essentially lets you play a game remotely from a friend’s console as long as they own it, but according to Sony in a recent statement to Gamespot, players will only be able to participate in Share Play activities in single one-hour sessions, limited with a timer.

Whilst this will put a spanner in the works for long plays with friends, the feature can be used over and over, without any kind of daily limit. You can finish your session and then immediately start a new one. In this authors opinion, Sony are making a statement to gamers that they can’t have their cake and eat it, saying, ‘yes, you can play for free, but we’re going to make it a little bit annoying for you’. Which is fine, as they are, ultimately, offering players free content.

That free content isn’t selective, you can use Share Play on any game, as implementing the service requires no additional effort for developers. You can even save your progress on Share Play, which then can be used if you eventually purchase a game you’ve already Share Played. The only cost to the user for Share Play is the standard Playstation Plus subscription, no other extra charges will be levied for the service.

The global update for the Playstation 4 which includes Share Play, the ability to upload saved gameplay videos to YouTube, plus search for PSN users by their real name, is coming sometime in the Autumn. the update should stream direct to the console and/or be available through the settings menu under ‘check for updates’. We’ll do a report when the update lands.

Via: Gamespot