There are those on the internet who still believe things without knowing any of the facts. For instance, there are those Xbox One fans out there who think the PS4 Share Play feature is a blatant rip off of the Xbox One Family Share feature, and this is just not true at all. These are two entirely different features but because they both have the same “share” in the name, they have to be the same. Wrong.

1. Xbox Family Share is a service that will allow you to share your game library with up to 10 friends or family. This is similar to STEAM’s Family Library Sharing, which allows a small group of friends and family to share games in your library if you are not playing them.

2. PS4 Share Play really has nothing to do with actual sharing of your library. Instead, Share Play just allows a friend of yours to remotely play with you the game you are currently on. They can join in and play co-op with you  (virtual couch) as if they were playing on the same device. They can also take over your game remotely and help you beat a level if you’re stuck. What they can not do is play the game while you are not on it. That’s not how it works. You can not share a game with your buddy and just let them play whenever they want. You have to be on with the game running for them to play with you.

That should clear things up. As you can see, Share Play is NOT Family Sharing. Remote play was a feature that was teased to us before the PS4 was even released. We are only now getting that feature in the up coming 2.0 update.

Also, PlayStation owners have been able to “family” share their games for a while as long as everyone plays on the same machine. I was able to do this on the PS3 and I’m able to do this on the PS4. As long as the same PS3/PS4 is their main machine for the account, you’re good to go.