Did Sony Really Remove Game Sharing?

Do you love to game share on your PlayStation but wondered if Sony really removed game sharing? I wondered this myself so I researched the internet trying to answer this question.

So Did Sony Remove Share Play? No game sharing is very much allowed on the PlayStation 4 you just need to register a PS4 as your”primary consolewhere your digital purchases will sync to. Anyone logged in to that console can play the purchased games.

If you download a game on a secondary console only you will be able to play the game, not the other users. I will explain game sharing in a lot more detail and if It differs from Sony’s “Share Play” feature.

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PS4 Game Share Explained & How To Do It

Game sharing is explained in the name as the feature allows you to share your library of games with a close friend or family member, via having their PS4 as your primary console.

It’s actually quite easy to do but remember you must do this with someone you trust, you are giving very sensitive information out to another person so don’t do this with any random person online only close friends or family.

This allows you to get games for half price as you and your friend can spend half on a fully priced game, as you can both share it together? Cool right!

How To Game Share On PS4

  1. .Sign into your PS4 with the person you want to share your games with logged in as well.
  2. Go to settings>account management>activiate primary PS4, deactivate your PS4 as primary this will sign you out of your main account
  3. Sign in again &  go to settings>account management>Restore licenses
  4. Sign in to friends account and settings>account management>activate as your primary PS4 and select activate (now your friend MUST have no primary ps4 and signed out of their ps4 for this to work
  5. Sign back into the main account and go to the library application
  6. Now you can download all your friend’s games! You can see which games to download with a two arrow triangle symbol
  7. Sign out of your account and sign back in to activate your PS4 as primary
  8. Sign in with your friend’s account and deactivate your primary ps4 as his primary PS4 as he needs his account back!
  9. You’re done! You should be able to able to share games with ease

If you prefer a video explanation. please check out this YouTube videos that goes into detail on how to game share on the PlayStation 4

Now there isn’t a limit with how many people you can game share with but only two games can be played at the same time, one of your primary system and one on the secondary which you need to be logged into.

There isn’t a limit with how many times you can change your primary PS4 like with the Xbox One(how to game share on Xbox here). But if you try to your games with more than one person and three of you want to play a game together, your account will likely be flagged and blocked.

Can You Get Banned For Gaming Sharing?

Don’t worry game sharing is not illegal and you cannot get banned. Sony even clarified the rules about game sharing back in 2013 which you can see here.

Most downloadable games on the Playstation store such as Uncharted 4 have a legal license that allowed them to be installed and used through multiple PS4 system. When your system can legally play a game it is “activated” for that game.

You don’t need to be signed into the PlayStation Network to play a downloaded game on your primary PS4, but you do if you want to play that game on another system.

Here is the licesnse in full

One-time licence fee to download to multiple PS4 systems. Sign in to PlayStation Network is not required to use this on your primary PS4, but is required for use on other PS4 systems.

PlayStation Network License

Now Sony can ban your account and Sony officially lists the reasons on why you could be banned here but the closest reason relating to game scaring is banning an account on financial scamming/fraud.

You are not allowed to share account details due to accounts having security risks involving credit cards. If Sony knows a user has someone else’s login details, you will both be banned on the first offence.

Most people who complain about game sharing being banned is they have publicly admitted to giving their friend their login details, if you want to game share don’t share login details.

When you log into your friends PS4 they do not need to know your details as you just need to sign in, the same vice versa.

Things To Remember With Game Sharing

  • You must be logged into the Sony Entertainment Network to install updates or play online multiplayer
  • You cannot be logged into the primary PS4 7 non-primary PS4 at the same time
  • The above points mean you cannot play online multiplayer with your friend using one account and licence, and your friend using a non-primary PS4 cannot play if the primary account is logged in (such as when your friend is usually signed into SEN when playing single-player games
  • Only one non-primary PS4 can be activated at one time. If your friend signs in to a third PS4, the former non-primary PS4 will be deactivated and you will be logged out.
  • This only applies to downloaded games; all disc-based games need a disc to run and cannot be shared without the disc.

Can you watch your friends play on PS4

You must have heard of the PlayStation 4’s share play feature and it’s easy to confuse it with game sharing on the PS4. They are quite similar but essentially are completely different features.

Share play allows you to enjoy your favourite games with your friend even if they don’t own a copy of the game! You can let your friends watch you play a game via sharing your screen!

You can even give them the controls halfway across the world! They can even jump into local multiplayer co-op or split-screen multiplayer or even play together as other players!

Here’s how too easily set it up. But remember you must have PS4 Plus to share play and there is a limit of 1 hour per share play session

How To Share Play On PS4

  1. Press the share button on the controller(left of the trackpad)>start share play>press okay
  2. Do “test connection speed” to see if your internet is faster enough for share play >Invite the friend you want to share a session with
  3. Now your friend should be seeing your screen! From the menu “share play” you can click “give the controller to the visitor” to them let them try a game or allow you to “play a game together
  4. Now a game must be launched for your friend to share your pS4
  5. Whenever you want to end a session click “take back controller” to stop share play

Share play is a great way to try out a game for real instead of buying it and it’s crazy that Sony had this feature way back in 2013. Check out a video guide if you prefer it in a visual format.

How do you share my PlayStation Plus with another account?

All you need to do is settings>account management>activate primary PS4 and all users signed into your primary PS4 will get access to PlayStation Plus aside from cloud saves.

Everything from playing online multiplayer game and the ability to share games will be accessible for every account signed into the primary PS4.

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