During Sony’s Gamescom 2014 press conference, the Japanese giant announced a new feature for Playstation gamers which looks set to make pairing with like-minded gamers much easier with the newly announced Share Play feature. In a nutshell, for PS Plus subscribers what this means is players can invite others to play co-op in supported games without the other person requiring to install or own the same game.  The only requirement is that both gamers are subscribed to PS Plus. What’s more, the v2.00 update will allow for direct uploading to Youtube, and real-time activity through friend-of-friend suggestions, allowing instant access to friends’ and recently played games’ broadcasts, and a real name search function will also be added in the Autumn when the update rolls out.

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The best way to think about Share Play is like a “virtual couch”. PlayStation 4 will create an online local co-op experience by allowing you to invite a friend to join your game—even when they don’t own a copy of it. With this first-of-its-kind feature, you’ll be able to play games with a friend just as if you were together in the same room. Let’s say that with games… you’ll be able to invite your friend online to play against the Miami Heat for the championship as the San Antonio Spurs in NBA2K, tackle the challenging Towerfall Ascension Quest Mode together, or aide, heal, and protect you as Igniculus in Child of Light’s local co-op mode.
With Share Play, you can even jump into a game to assist a friend. For example, if there is part of a game that you can’t quite finish, you can invite a friend to take over your controls. Like handing over the controller to a friend on your couch, your screen will be shared as your friend gets through the part of the game that has been giving you trouble—can’t get past that part in The Last of Us: Remastered when you’re hanging upside down? Get a little help.