Back in August, Sony started teasing a new feature they call “Share Play”. Though we’re still waiting to see just how well it works, the idea itself is wonderful: once enabled, you can let your friends play your games with you (or by themselves, even) from across the vast Interwebs without them actually owning a copy of the game.
Up until now, Sony was pretty vague about when this feature would launch — noting only that it was coming “this fall.” Thanks to a quiet announcement on Twitter, however, we’ve now got a date: October 28th.
PS4’s next software update, Masamune, will be available on 10/28. Includes Share Play, USB Music player, and more! pic.twitter.com/FjfgcY91Ki
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) October 23, 2014
As the tweet above mentions, an update that Sony expects to ship on 10/28 will include Share Play, along with the ability to play music (MP3, MP4, M4A, and, for some crazy reason, 3GP) off of a USB drive while playing a game.
As for the “and more” that leaves that tweet oh-so open ended, the update also brings the long-awaited YouTube app, a better voice command system, and the ability to tweak the background color of your PS4’s homescreen.
While Share Play sounds incredible, there’s a footnote or two that Sony seems to be downplaying a bit that might make it a bit less incredible. For example: sony has previously confirmed that Share Play sessions are limited to 60 minute chunks — so don’t expect to be able to blast through an entire game on a buddy’s remote console without shelling out for your own copy eventually.
On the upside, the feature should work with all PS4 games right out of the gate — so it’s not something that’ll only work on a title-by-title basis.
Via TechCrunch