PS4 Share Play has to have “sensible limitations”, according to Sony, although those haven’t yet been set in stone.
Speaking to TrustedReviews, Fergal Gara, VP and MD UK & Ireland at Sony Computer Entertainment stated that it was inevitable Share Play would have some limitations on use.
“Any feature like [Share Play] clearly would be madness if it was totally open ended. So while I see it as a very strong ‘For the Player’ policy – and very, very strong for the discovery of new games – clearly it wouldn’t be good for us and it wouldn’t be good for publishers or the industry if it’s “buy one and hundreds get to use it”.
Currently it’s looking like there will be a one hour limit on all Share Play sessions, but those sessions can be restarted indefinitely. However, Sony hasn’t yet concreted those rules and they could change ahead of the PS4 Software Update 2.0 later this autumn.
“So whether those rules are hard fixed right now or whether we watch and learn and start with a draft set of guidelines and restrictions and maybe evolve them a little bit. I’m not totally on top of that, but I think you can expect that there has to be some kind of sensible limitation – otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”
The idea is to let gamers experience titles that they’ve not purchased yet in a healthy way with co-op, or allow gamers to aid each other in their struggles with the pass the controller feature.
“Viewed positively, it’s very much a hit feature focused on the gamer. Giving them great flexibility for people who maybe haven’t bought a specific game a great opportunity to try it. Some of those will maybe go on to buy that game. Obviously there’s a promotional effect in there built-in, like a recommendation. But clearly we can’t allow that to cancel out any negative influences on missed purchases.”
As for availability, Gara also confirmed that PS4 Share Play is most likely going to be offered on the “vast majority of titles”, but there may be some developer discretion attached to that.
“The feature is there, ready and available for all titles. So there may be a publisher view or some exceptions from time to time, but my understanding is that it will be offered very broadly and the vast majority of titles will have Share Play compatibility.”
Read more: PS4 Share Play – How Sony is changing multiplayer in a big way
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
