what to know
- To get started: Open Control Center > Party Voice Chat Card > Start Sharing Game. Then, invite friends and select play mode.
- Join: Open the invitation notification and choose to join.
- In order for Share Play to work, hosts and guests must be PlayStation Plus members.
This article explains how to use shared playback and screen sharing. It also covers the differences between shared games and game sharing features.
Share Play is available on PS5 and PS4 consoles. Hosts and guests can combine the two consoles in any combination, meaning PS4 users can play PS5 games on the console.
You can access Share Play and Screen Share with similar steps.
From the Home screen, tap the PS button on the PS5 controller.
Select Game Base from the menu at the bottom of the screen.
Select the Friends tab.
If you are in a party, select the party voice chat card.
Select a friend from the list.
Select Share Screen .
Select Share my screen if you are the host, or Request a screen share to join your friend's conversation.
Open Game Base and select Friends .
Find the friend you want to play with and select Voice Chat . This will start a party and send them an invitation.
Select to start sharing your screen .
After your friend accepts the invitation, select Share Game from the party screen.
Depending on what you want to do, select "Guests play with you" or " Play with guests."
To end a Share Play session, navigate back to the party chat card and select Stop Share Play .
PlayStation 5's shared games feature allows multiple people to participate in a session, even if they don't all own the same game. You can use it to watch, control directly from a remote location or work together (in selected games).
The PS5 actually has two "share" features. The first is Shared Play, which allows you to play cooperatively with other players or give them full control. You can then also use the Screen Sharing feature, which allows you to live stream your game to up to 16 players in your party.
There are two modes for sharing games:
- Guests play like you: Give control of your game to your guests and allow them to play remotely. As the host, you still have control of the PS5 and can pause or exit the session by tapping the PlayStation button on the controller.
- Play with Guests: Play the game with guests (this option is only available for games that support multiplayer).
To host a Share Play session, you must subscribe to PlayStation Plus. You'll also need to be friends with the people you invite, so make sure they're on your friends list first.
Other shared game restrictions include:
- Meetings are limited to one hour. If this time is exceeded, the session will automatically end and you will need to start a new session to continue.
- Share Play works with most games, but only games that support local multiplayer can be played together. For example, you can play Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2 together as it supports split-screen multiplayer. However, single-player games like Cyberpunk 2077 can only be played by hosts or guests.
Sharing games is easily confused with PS5 console sharing (also known as "game sharing"), but they are different features. Console sharing lets others access your library of digital games so they can play them on their own PSN account. To learn more about console sharing, check out PlayStation's official guide.
