![Helping you stay safe on PlayStation Network: How to share your PlayStation games safely](https://blog.playstation.com/tachyon/2018/04/unnamed-file-37.jpg?presign=X-Amz-Content-Sha256%3DUNSIGNED-PAYLOAD%26X-Amz-Security-Token%3DIQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEBIaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJHMEUCIG5kk79dm3sIpXh67%252F6eGXxrv8njFCMhzxhuE%252B%252BcCQr1AiEAkOAqxwnjyAuo85Ew53A2VN%252BcmZKFo7pg5Nb%252FoJyf38cq%252FQMIOxAAGgw1Nzc0MTg4MTg0MTMiDHIuIAEYAsP6DwxUPSraAwMqcaRib0QwYCmWVppDHQ0kKEL7z9xGJ4zcdSxAHBboR7JNtrehnoqNJAuTbuAgJI5YrE8%252FWSBK2xXAL9IiCvG5nTFtyOOQIiw%252Fe%252B3G8Z1OD9Fw5BmhyxGyZ5bXpvaaV6SEUtllCraLJQyiOLkw5hKjP0iKhgcxz8tyKTc7OwXcG2G0V%252Bn0CsQvf%252B1osmmqZnWqJsaBFE2hzMbIW4Pj1ytg%252Bo8Xefg9Z%252BgyhLb9XpNkbFsm2sZMVmP2IsUjVgDAE8PB8ominy1v6cIN1LyE94ZuSFr%252FXsWtG3St%252B1sXx5CLxue3yXnpLTMxlXd3KOPd8JJZ4ie6T9So5pSAJLkIUtnRF8Je1G7vZ7uVYm7ydgCIuks%252Bfl0aNRLYoERWP4gRwEZBViTRr8igtsWqcwP0aFkrj%252BaaVimDm%252F8Pp6jzm%252FcaYr%252FT2nOc%252FESe6PTJNJUJvhs2jIvLg%252Blox8nosz3HLVxDboK6xt33cDXcxkA4BP1st063vzcC0DIx4dj56Zx2nQhCesAIBAggVMr94jVJS5Udry3pjqynE87Sk5cgqkV%252Fna%252BrFT%252F%252BeGMB05RFrPhjna04I04QIjwbvrLvXoO3vbzO6JAqqUh2oR8%252FwdwLkLYDe%252FSP8QGk1ugqdDCFh%252FS2BjqlAaABfOobVr%252BbCBiXS7SDzZ%252BIIc6nsdb1IWvLFVrF0DaOt0TOKA2nupbpngWZ2w8Pqc0IALpMTry8dVfZvEXtfBY1Sd6%252FyZbZeO8wMgwNxT2z4UEI%252FV41u9R3sl5TL3bp62sPLAXcQJ4xhj36hLyRvoBq%252BVI2iQ0vYhAww2FwrwAaYFvRNt3GLNKh%252BQ71Nj95bwHN2Q3V3CDid0DihBiW1dLfC5Yr5Q%253D%253D%26X-Amz-Algorithm%3DAWS4-HMAC-SHA256%26X-Amz-Credential%3DASIAYM4GX6NWRGDQLYEH%252F20240908%252Fus-east-1%252Fs3%252Faws4_request%26X-Amz-Date%3D20240908T021839Z%26X-Amz-SignedHeaders%3Dhost%26X-Amz-Expires%3D900%26X-Amz-Signature%3D10792ec27e5a2d45e83db394bd6acbeab85c0868ef898a9fdeefa3f09822f297&resize=1088%2C500&crop_strategy=smart)
Your guide to Share Play, and what to watch out for
At PlayStation we recognise that you might sometimes want to share a game you own with a friend or, indeed, try one of their games before making the decision to buy it yourself.
Fear not – there are safe and secure ways to do this on PlayStation Network, both of which we’ll cover today. However, there are also methods that are extremely unsafe, and we wanted to take the opportunity today to discuss those too.
1) Hand your friend the physical copy
Okay, so this one is pretty obvious, but the best and safest way to share your games with your friends is to physically hand them your copy (assuming your friends are trustworthy and will definitely give the game back, unlike my university housemate who borrowed my copy of GTA Vice City and never returned it – I haven’t forgotten, you know who you are!)
Of course this is only an option if you have a physical copy of the game and if your friends live near you. In this day and age it’s not uncommon for people to make friends with people they’ve met online, and many people buy their games digitally.
2) Share Play
Share Play allows players to safely share their game through PSN. Simply invite your friend to a Party on your PS4 and start a Share Play session. Once the session has begun, you have multiple options for what you want to do:
- Digitally “pass the controller”, allowing your friend to take control of the game for you
- Battle against each other in local multiplayer titles
- Or simply share your screen with your friend.
Each play session can last for up to one hour and there are no limits on the number of sessions that can be held. This should easily allow your friends to get a good idea of what a game is like before they decide to buy the game for themselves.
For example, I’ve recently been using Share Play to school my niece and nephew, who live on the other side of the Atlantic, in Injustice 2 (and definitely not to boost my win/loss records!)
More information on Share Play can be found here.
3) What not to do
It might seem like the simplest way of sharing your games, but you should never share your PSN log-in details with anyone – especially someone you’ve never met.
Not only is this against the PlayStation Community Code of Conduct but you run the risk of having your account stolen. Your personal information is valuable to scammers and thieves, particularly longstanding accounts with multiple digital purchases or PlayStation Plus subscriptions.
Account thieves may use sophisticated tactics in an attempt to gain your trust, with promises of access to a wealth of digital content in exchange for your log in details. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true then it more than likely is!
If you do give your log-in details to another player you run the risk of them making unauthorised purchases or changing your email and password combination to prevent you from regaining control of your account.
Should you find yourself locked out of your account, or already have an account which has been stolen, you can contact our Customer Services Team who should be able to help once they have verified your identity.
Similarly, if you receive any PSN messages from people asking for access to your account, you can report them to our team of moderators who will take the appropriate action.
Finally, as an added layer of security, we strongly recommend that you enable Two Step Verification on your account. This will result in an access code being sent to your mobile phone any time you try to sign in to your account, which is a handy way of keeping scammers out.
More details on Two Step Verification can be found here.
Read more in our “Helping you stay safe on PlayStation Network” series:
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