Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare blocks PS4's Share Play feature
Following reports from PlayStation 4 Daily and GameSpot, we attempted to use Share Play in Sledgehammer Games' new shooter, which launched earlier this week. We were unable to share any part of Advanced Warfare with another PS4 user. The host was able to play just fine, but the guest only saw the message in the screenshot above: "The host's game screen is not displayed because the current scene is a blocked scene for Share Play. Wait until the blocked scene is finished." That was for gameplay in the campaign, not a cutscene.
Game publishers and developers already have the ability to restrict the PS4's Share button functionality or block it altogether. For example, video shared from NBA 2K14 includes no sound, reportedly because the game uses licensed music, and screenshots from Child of Light bear a Ubisoft watermark. Sharing can be disabled for cutscenes that a developer considers to contain spoilers.
Sony added Share Play to the PS4 in system software update 2.0, which the company released last week. The feature allows players to invite a PlayStation Network friend into their game via streaming technology — regardless of whether that friend owns the title in question — either to take over the controls and play for them, or to play alongside them as a co-op partner over the internet. Share Play sessions are restricted to 60 minutes in length, but there's no limit on the number of sessions.
PS4 firmware 2.0 has caused a number of problems with the console as well as certain games; Sony released a follow-up this week, version 2.01, in an attempt to fix the issues. Since Share Play arrived less than a week before the launch of Advanced Warfare, it's possible that Sledgehammer didn't have enough time to implement the feature in the game, and chose to block it rather than hastily add support for it. Sony showed off Share Play during E3 with a different shooter, Ubisoft's Far Cry 4. The PS4 version of Minecraft reportedly disables Share Play.
A Sony representative confirmed to Polygon today that "Share Play is a [system-level] feature enabled by System Software Update 2.00, making it available for all PS4 titles; however the option is available to developers to disable the feature according to what they feel will best benefit the consumer experience."
We've asked Advanced Warfare publisher Activision for comment, and will update this article with any information we receive.
An Activision representative provided the following statement to Polygon:
"Delivering a great gaming experience for fans is our top priority. We're focused on launching Advanced Warfare and ensuring that people have a great time playing it, which our fans seem to be. Share Play is a new feature that was introduced as part of the recent PS4 firmware 2.00 update. Our engineers didn't have access to it before it launched, so we haven't had a chance to evaluate it to see how it will impact the experience across all modes of play. Of course we wouldn't include a feature in our game without having the chance to test it. Once we've fully analyzed its performance, we'll determine how to support it going forward."
Original Article at www.polygon.com
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