Sony announced Share Play for the Playstation four at their Gamescom event in Germany. They described it as a “virtual couch” for playing games with your friends. You can “pass” a controller to a friend online and they will be able to play your game without purchasing it. This has never been done before and could be a huge benefit to both casual and core gamers.
Both parties must be subscribed to Playstation Plus and each Share Play session is limited to an hour, but so far the amount of sessions is unlimited. This is great news for people who have trouble playing some games and need a friend to help them out. It will also turn local multiplayer games into online multiplayer games. Finally, you can play Lego Marvel Superheroes (a game with only local co-op) with a friend online.
Of course, many people have questions about how exactly the service will work. Will both players be able to earn trophies while using Share Play? Can you share your game with more than one person at one time? Can we also share videos and music? Sony hasn’t clarified those question yet, but I’m sure we will find out by the time Share Play is implemented in the PlayStation 4’s software update this fall.