How to gameshare on PS4: share your PS4 games with friends and family

Want to know how to gameshare on PS4? Then you've come to the right place. While lending physical PS4 games to your friends and family is pretty straightforward, it's somewhat more difficult to share your digital PS4 library with others.

Luckily there are a couple of ways you can gameshare on PS4, allowing you to either share your entire PS4 game library with a friend or family member, or to share a specific game with someone else – under your watchful eye. Sharing is caring, after all.

Interested in sharing your PS4 games with others? Then read on for our simple steps on how to gameshare on PS4.

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Share your PS4 games library

If you want to allow someone else access to your entire PS4 library, then this first method is the easiest option.

Firstly, log into your PSN account on your friend or family member's PS4 console. Go to 'Settings', 'Account management' and then 'Activate as your primary PS4'. You may need to deactivate your own PS4 console as the primary console to do this.

This should allow your friend or family member to download and play games from your PS4 games library on their PS4 console – but you should probably have them log into their own PlayStation account on the console. 

If you use this method, you can still play your PS4 games library on your own console at the same time. However, it's worth noting that only one other person can access your PS4 game library in this way. If you try to add more, you risk your account being banned.

We also advise that you only share your PS4 game library with someone you trust, as you will likely need to follow the same steps on your own console to regain control of your PS4 games library, or if you change/upgrade your own PS4. 

If you want to deactivate the PS4 console you originally chose to share your library with as a primary console, but can't access it, Sony has a simple guide to allow you to do so – but this can only be done once every six months.

Share a game through Share Play

If you don't like the idea of giving your friends or family members full access to your PS4 game library, or you simply don't have access to their PS4 console, then Share Play is perhaps a safer method to game share on PS4. Sony's Share Play feature allows you to hand over control of the game you're playing to a friend, while you watch them play. 

This method requires both you and the other player to have PS4 running system software 2.0 or higher. Sony also recommends a minimum upload speed of 2Mbps. Also, make sure you and the friend you want to Share Play with are friends on PSN.

To start Share Play, go to your PSN friends list on your PS4 console, choose the friend you wish to game share with (they need to be online) and start a party chat. 

Next, load up the game you're wanting to play, press the 'Share' button on your DualShock 4 PS4 controller and select 'Start Share Play'. You can then send a Share Play invite to friend you want to share with – they just need to accept. This will link your PS4 consoles and your friend will then be able to see your screen.

However, if you want to let them play the game, then you need to hand over your controller. This is done by pressing the 'Share' button on your PS4 controller again (with the game open), and selecting 'Go to party for Share Play'. On the right-hand side of the screen you'll see 'Share Play' with the amount of time left for your session, select that, then select 'Give controller to visitor' and then 'Allow visitor to play as you'.

Unfortunately, Share Play sessions only last 60 minutes so you may need to keep restarting your session. In addition, while watching someone play through Share Play doesn't require a PS Plus subscription, giving the controller to a visitor does - however only the host requires an active PS Plus subscription.

If you want to take back control, simply select 'Take back controller' from the same menu you selected 'Give controller to visitor'. You can pass control back and forth as often as you want.

It's worth noting that only the host needs to own the game for both people to play.

Play a game together through Share Play

If you want to share and play a PS4 game's local multiplayer or co-op mode with a friend, follow the method above but instead of selecting 'Allow visitor to play as you', select 'Play a game together'. This will make your friend player two.

However, to play a game together, both the host and the visitor require active PS Plus subscriptions.

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