Per a report from Gamespot, players were not able to access Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare after launch through the new Share Play feature for the PlayStation 4. Later, a representative of Sony PlayStation essentially confirmed that developers had the option to disable the feature, “according to what they feel will best benefit the consumer experience.” Activision released its own statement on the issue. The Activision statement indicates that the development team did not have time to test Share Play, so that is why it is not accessible for the game. On both sides, it sounds like corporate double-speak. Developers and publishers of games should not be able to block the Share Play feature. Blocking Share Play defeats the entire purpose of the feature.
Share Play is definitely an interesting feature in the way it can connect players and gamers all over the world. It provides a new social function for the PlayStation 4 console. In addition, Share Play is another way for players to try out a game and see if it is worth buying. One could possibly argue that a publisher would want to block Share Play to prevent gamers from playing an entire game for free. Well, if you can play and beat an entire, brand-new, $65 video game in one hour, that does not speak very highly of the game. If developers and publishers are worried about spoilers getting revealed for a game on Share Play, or the feature offering too much of a new game, then they decide to drop the Share Play feature. The purpose of Share Play is to share a game with a friend, even if a friend does not own the game. Someone who owns a PlayStation 4 may join in on another friend’s gameplay session for Battlefield 4, NBA 2K15, etc. It is not a feature that developers or publishers should be allowed to block.
The argument that Share Play hurts sales of games is considerably weak. Where is the data to prove that as fact? If a player is on the fence about a game and actually gets to sample it, perhaps using Share Play convinces the player to buy a game. The Share Play feature has just as much potential to increase sales as to put a dent in them.
If developers and publishers are suddenly skittish about Share Play hurting their bottom line and numerous major games do not get Share Play support, then the Share Play feature is rendered pointless. Hopefully, the corporate double speak will subside and cooler heads will prevail.
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