How to Share Play on PS5

Open the Game Base, and then select a friend and choose 'Share Screen'

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Published on April 30, 2024

What to Know

To start: Open control center > party voice chat card > Start Share Play. Then, invite a friend, and select a play mode.
To join: Open the invite notification and select Join.
For Share Play to work, the host and visitor must be PlayStation Plus members.

This article explains how to use Share Play and Screen Share. It also covers the differences between Share Play and the Game Share feature.

Share Play can be used on both PS5 and PS4 consoles. Hosts and visitors can have any combination of the two consoles, which means that it’s possible for PS4 users to play a host’s PS5 games.

How to Use Share Play

You access Share Play and Screen Share with similar steps.

Screen Share

From the Home screen, tap the PS button on your PS5 controller.
Select Game Base from the menu at the bottom of the screen.
Choose the Friends tab.

If you're in a party, select the Party Voice Chat card.
Select a friend from the list.
Choose Share Screen.
Select Share My Screen if you’re the host or Request Share Screen to join a friend’s session.

Share Play

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 invite.
Select Start Share Screen.
After your friend accepts the invite, choose Share Play from the party screen.
Choose Visitor Plays as You or Play With the Visitor, depending on what you want to do.
To finish a Share Play session, navigate back to the party chat card and select Stop Share Play.

What is Share Play?

The PlayStation 5’s Share Play feature allows multiple people to participate in a session, even if they don’t all own the same game. You can use it to spectate, take direct control remotely, or play together cooperatively (in select titles).

The PS5 actually has two “share” features. The first is Share Play, which lets you play a game cooperatively with another player or give them full control. Then, you have Screen Share, which lets you stream your game for up to 16 players in a party.

Share Play has two modes:

Visitor Plays as You: Gives control of the game to the visitor, allowing them to play it remotely. As the host, you still have control of your PS5 and can pause or exit the session by tapping the PlayStation button on your controller.
Play With the Visitor: Play a game with your visitor (this option is limited to games that support multiplayer).

To host a Share Play session, you must have a PlayStation Plus subscription. You also need to be friends with the person you invite, so make sure they’re on your Friends List first.

Other Share Play restrictions include:

Sessions are limited to one hour. If you exceed that time, the session will automatically end, and you’ll need to start a new one to continue.
Share Play works with most games, but you'll only be able to play a game together if it supports local multiplayer. For example, you can play Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2 together because it has split-screen multiplayer support. However, only the host or visitor would be able to play a single-player title like Cyberpunk 2077.

How Do I Enable Game Sharing on PS5?

Share Play can be easily confused with PS5 Console Sharing (also known as “Game Share”), but they're different features. Console Sharing give another person access to your digital game library so they can play these titles on their own PSN account. To learn more about Console Sharing, check out PlayStation’s official guide.

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