Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare blocks out Share Play entirely

PS4 Daily has learned that Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare does not allow players to Share Play the game.

[GribbleGrunger]

What a stupid move By Activision. Don't they understand how Shareplay actually helps sell games. I gave someone a test drive of Unfinished Swan the other day. He bought it the following day.

[Rearden]

Call of Duty is Activision, not EA.

[GribbleGrunger]

Yes, I realised and was hoping to correct it before anyone noticed ... darn it.

[bradfh]

Activision and EA are the same in my books, both are ruining gaming

[finito82]

EA is not THAT bad honestly, they are making a turn around ever since they were voted worst business practices last year.

also considering I can SharePlay both EA's Madden 15 and UFC with friends, is pretty damn cool. Also all of UFC's DLC has been free up to this point, we got 3 dlc packs so far free of charge by EA.

So EA is deff trying to change, and AT LEAST they provide dedicated aervers to Battlefield 4 which has also improved greatly with the patches.

So I would say Activision is on the horizon to surpass EA as worse business practice, especially if they plan to release micotransaction purchases again that is seperate from DLC...now thats bad for business.

[BiggerBoss]

This is really disappointing. I was gonna try this game out on shareplay and buy it if i liked it, but now im just going to skip it altogether. I may buy it down the line when its cheaper

[G20WLY]

Maybe they're only blocking it until the game officially releases - i.e. tomorrow it will work fine?

I know it's Activision, so I won't hold my breath, but it's a possibility.

[XabiDaChosenOne]

"Its publishers who put money into making them"
And where do you think they are getting this money from genius? Santa Clause? LMAOOO!!

[Why o why]

'You fanboys have some serious sense of entitlement.... Its clear who is ruining the industry, keeping it the immature laughing stock of the entertainment industry. '

Irony explosion

Most ps fans who were using ps plus last gen know it takes time for the better titles to come to plus. Ive seen more complaints from non ps owners. Last gen plus started past the mid gen point so the potential pool of games was already huge.

In regards to the feature being blockedg. Not too surprising. We'll have to see how it goes. Personally I was only expecting this feature to work on titles that had local multiplayer for both to be able to play.

[andibandit]

Im thinking it may have something to do with the peer to peer connection, for example

Someone is host for the match AND hosting a Shareplay session.

[Rhythmattic]

POG.

Why you even here ?

[JVIV]

Pogmathoin
Is a suck up who likes to defend these millionaire companies , we don't all shit money to be buying new games and at least with share play you can give somebody a taste of the cake

[Big_Game_Hunters]

what is the difference.

[mikeslemonade]

I may not have used that feature for COD, but Activision can go kick rocks with their move. Ubisoft and Activsion are flopping this generation and I hope they go bankrupted.

[annoyedgamer]

Activision published the game, and blocking Shareplay isnt going to hide the game as gameplay is all over Youtube and has been for days now. I is not even bad most of what I have seen looks great. I am sure they have a reason though.

[madmonkey01]

yeah they wouldn't want anyone to get a slice of their games for free, even for an hour, when they can charge £60 for it

[Mustang300C2012]

madmonkey01,

Because a business isn't about making money right? What a stupid ass comment.

[u4one]

its because they don't want to give any of the game away for free. if you are going to play it, they are going to want you to buy it. I personally see this as being the norm with big, expensive AAA titles, which is also why I haven't shared the same enthusiasm as other people on this site about Shareplay (along with bandwidth/quality issues)

[gangsta_red]

You can expect a lot of other third parties to follow the same pattern in the future.

It's a great feature, but do you honestly think a lot of 3rd party devs who wanted online passes, the demise of used games and locked content on disc are truly happy about the shareplay feature?

Shareplay may benefit in convincing "some" to purchase a game but more than likely for most, its a great way to exploit a game and use it to not purchase a game and just wait for someone to share with you every hour on the hour.

Sony should have never gave devs and publishers the option of opting out. But I'm sure they knew a lot of third party devs did not like the idea of shareplay.

[Tempest317]

And who exactly is going to be willing to just constantly let someone use their ps4, along with also being willing to waste their time getting them connected hourly? Shareplay is just as much about getting to play games with your friends that only one of you have, as it is about getting more sales. No one in their right mind is going to exploit it, because its just not plausible.

[Alsybub]

Companies are also unlikely to allow it because they found that last gen having loads of demos didn't really, positively, affect sales. That's why there hasn't been many so far this gen. Basically, they have statistics that show people aren't more likely to buy the game so why allow it? I think they actually found that people bought slightly less games because of it.

After all, if there's no option to try before you buy then the only way to try it IS to buy it. If you were selling a product which would you prefer? People to try it and, on that basis, not buy it or people only having the option to buy? I'm not saying it's the way I would prefer it to be but that doesn't mean my preference makes good business sense.

Oh, and my two cents on Share Play - Waste of time gimmick that only benefits the person at the other end playing the game with no incentive for me to allow someone to control my PS4. Everyone talks about it from the perspective of the player and not the host. Anyone with a normal internet connection wouldn't be able to go and watch NetFlix or another game service because their internet bandwidth is being taken up for the benefit of someone else who isn't even present. I don't see how that's appealing.
Give it a couple of months, after the novelty has worn off, and it will be rarely used.

[Baka-akaB]

Of course it's not great for all games , and got it's limiations , but there are cases i've seen when it can be more useful . Friends from a past party chat were able to play versus matches in a game like UFC .

Seems like a more interesting way to demo mp centric games , like fighting games and sports games , than giving them a demo when they play the AI .

[brads4]

There is no way they would have put this in without an opt out. Devs don't care, publishers do (EA, UBI, Activision). They want their cash. Not the ability to play the campaign for free then go home. Shareplay is an idealistic idea, that does not conform with how publishers want to squeeze every penny out of everyone.

[FanboyKilla]

If i was a dev i would block it too. @ gribblegrunger what do you think would sale more games? Being able to play for FREE, or having to buy it, to play it. Hmmmmmm.

I guess sony left out the fine print for you guys. It seems it isnt as good in practice as it is in theory. Still, a cool feature if devs let you play. I hope its not in vein though.

[Ju]

I rather think this is more and advertising feature than anything. It gives you a glimpse of the game, but it sure isn't the full experience. First, you need to actually have a friend who is willing to share and thus it limits it's uses. And then, what good luck convincing the other pear to sit their idle watch you playing his/her game. Second player maybe, but I doubt it will ruin sales for a publisher.

Sony should maybe change the way this works. Separate "control" and "spectator" mode. And block controls only, not the screen.

[extermin8or]

Well because I for example am on the fence after past COD's now people say this one mixes it up enough to be worth purchasing. I wanted to try it first via shareplay before possibly ordering it however I can't try it as they've blocked shareplay. That's a sale lost and I know alot if other people are of the same mind.

[Outthink_The_Room]

@Ju

I'm not trying to defend Activision or any publisher who blocks SharePlay, but it's not about advertising.

You have...

Twitch Streams
Reviews
Gameplay Previews
Trailers
Developer Diaries
Keynotes
Presentations
Alphas
Betas
Commercials
And lastly, Hands-on Previews themselves at various conventions and conferences.

I hardly think SharePlay is the reason for marketing and advertising.

[Baka-akaB]

But those arent actually the same as playing those in the flesh . Except betas and demos wich are very few or extremely limited .

I'll admit i dont have use for it , because whenever the console is on , i'm too busy to do it . Not to mention always using the net for something else , when not mp .

Still it's a decent tool and option . I've actually seen from party Chats rooms , people and friends decide to get Shadows of Mordor and a few other games , because of it .

Filtering crap on twitch can be tedious and not enough for some , and trailers ands feeds arent everything

[AgentSmithPS4]

Yep. They could've let people use Shareplay on only one part of the game if they wanted (and blocked the rest), I'm sort of surprised they didn't use that to their advantage to manipulate people (by letting only the best part(s) be shared). Who knows, maybe their 'team of shrinks' told them this was the best way to maximize profits, or maybe they received an anonymous donation to block it ;).

[purp13m0nk3y]

Good call. Allow share on SP only or something. 90% of people buy COD for the MP.

Giving them a taste of the SP to show off the shiny gfx and new movement mechanics would definitely move some units.

I've been a COD hater for a couple of years now (I can admit it. MW2 was the last COD I played and liked) but I'm seriously tempted to buy this one.

I was hoping to try a mates copy on share play to make a final decision. Oh well. Lost sale from me. I'll pick it up used cheap in a month or two. Pity.

[irepbtown]

I agree with giving a part of the game but not SP only.

They should do MP and only be able to play one mode for example Team Deathmatch, on one level and you can only rank up to say, rank 5 and you can only unlock one or two things from each category.

That way you can give someone a rather good experience, but still far short of the full one. Maybe include one or two SP missions to sweeten it.

That's what I would do if I was in charge.

[ZombieKiller]

Same here. Shadow of Mordor, VERY NEXT DAY! I'm happy to have SharePlay and was looking forward to it in COD. I bet the reason they are holding back is so that the casuals can't hop on someones system every now and then. More money for activision. I bet it's because they know it will sell regardless and this just might be a way for SOME gamers to play a round or 2 for free without purchase. If you think about it, alot of the casuals like this game because they can pick it up and play it for a few rounds without investing too much time into it. I bet Activision knows this and thinks this will hurt sales in that way.

[Imalwaysright]

CoD isn't Unfinished Swan. Everyone knows about it and has an idea of what to expect from it. It's possible that they blocked shareplay to avoid losing sales which is something that shareplay also brings to the table.

[Harold_Finch]

It's understandable, like an advertisement for Apple, they don't need share play. Apple's ads consist of nothing but 3rd party apps and pencil comparisons but you know what it is anyway.

Buy the game if you're interested, who cares.

[ramiuk1]

i fully expect this to be a 60fps issue.
also the fact u have to create an actual character online etc.

infact i can think of about 10 reasons why it wouldnt work for such a fast action game.
Many people who play splitscreen online cause issues in lobbys because there uploading 2 players and makes room lag.

[St0rm_Cr0w]

Who the hell disagrees with you? Would your friend have bought The Unfinished Swan without trying it first? Probably not. Shareplay is a game changer not just for players but devs and publishers too, its common sense.

[tbone567]

No need to lie.

[u4one]

I respect your opinion but I must disagree. Anecdotal evidence is trumped by market data every time. What you are more or less comparing Shareplay to in your argument is a game demo. Market research shows that demoing a game doesn't push sales in a positive direction. That is why we don't have tons of demos on the current gen systems as we did on the last gen systems. It's not worth the cost, time or effort. If your friend was not interested in that game and you were, simply telling them and selling them on the game is just as effective, if not more effective than a game demo except that to the company, your word of mouth is free and thus more valuable . If you wanted to play some multiplayer, your friend would have most likely purchased the game regardless of their Shareplay experience. If a limited number of people don't go buy the game because they can't try it first, they are usually the minority. Research tells us that if a person is even remotely interested in a game they will do their own research and most likely purchase it - even if they wait till the price drops. The people not interested at all in the game will most likely not purchase it, demo or not.

[VegasDawg]

When they came out with it I was wondering if publishers were going to embrace it, I wonder if this is going to set a trend, hope not.

[neocores]

Share play wont be availbe in tell the full release on the 4th when it is on the playstation store. Share play is where u download a little small part and play but u can download if its not on the store -.-

[GribbleGrunger]

That's not what Shareplay is at all. Shareplay is streaming the game directly to your PS4 from someone else's PS4. You don't have to own the game or download a single byte.

[moomoo319]

His idea that it wont be availible till tomorrow is quite possible though. Actually that is most likely the reason

[Orbilator]

@neocores stop commenting on stuff you don't know lol

[kowan]

I think he's saying that Shareplay will not be available for COD AW until it's release date. Blocking it before release is pretty logical to avoid giving people free access to the full game even before the release of the game.

[TheJacksonRGN]

Really? Because after shareplaying The Evil Within with a friend it shows up on my PS4 locked. It also takes up 753.7KB on the HDD and gives me the option to buy the full game.

[GribbleGrunger]

That's just to encourage you to buy the game. It's not game code, just advertising.

[TheJacksonRGN]

Advertisements do not take up space on the actual HDD.

[GameDev1]

lol, no that is not shareplay

ON TOPIC: Wonder why Activision are restricting it

@jackanderson1985

But it will actually help them sell more rather than lose sales, cause it is a free demo, people cant save progress on shareplay so it is not like you can finish the game

I tried Driveclub on shareplay and looking to get it in Dec, I would still be skeptical if I didnt try it

[jackanderson1985]

nothing to wonder about really, they don't wanna lose sales... i'd fully expect alot more devs to do this as time passes

[kowan]

They're blocking it because it's not yet released. Reviewers get a review copy of the game before release but if Activision allows shareplay then people are gonna get access to the full game even before it's release date. It will best to avoid that.

[ZombieKiller]

....neocores.....Lol wut?! Do you even play video games?

[Ethereal]

Odd.

[tlougotg]

Had to be activision smh of course!!!!

[AutoCad]

well that kinda defeats the purpose of shareplay if more big titles end up blocking this.

[SteamPowered]

That is a big factor in SharePlays success. And one that Sony really doesnt have control over.

[KevWriter]

You think Sony went into this not having some level of buy in from most publishers? I'm sure they already know who will allow this feature and who won't. Apparently enough will allow it to make it feasible.

[SteamPowered]

@Kev
I think its the Developers who have the final say.
Sony doesnt seem the type to strong-arm devs into sharing content if they dont want to.
Sony may have a bazillion devs lined up for Shareplay for all I know, but you cannot deny that if some of the big players dont share their content, Shareplay will be affected.

[captainexplosion]

CoD is the most popular MP game and it features split screen. If share play doesn't support CoD that is a MAJOR blow.

[Reddzfoxx]

I think people are looking at share play the wrong way. Its a feature and its not a guarantee. Developers can choose to participate and they can choose not too.

It was created with the intention of indies being able to be play tested by people who might not actually buy the game. Then someone could try it and share play it and maybe grab a new customer. Bigger titles that never offer demos will never participate in share play.

[madmonkey01]

which is a shame, as demos used to sell a game to me more than a review would. loved buying demo discs back in the day.

these days i am often disappointed with my purchase, guess i am just too fussy now.

[MajorGecko]

ahhh demos the good old days when people actually wanted you to play and enjoy their game

[testerg35]

Ok.. I think a lot of games will start doing this. A lot of games (SP) can be finished in hours and publishers can lose potential sales this way. I think shareplay can help sell good MP games, unless a player only needs his MP fix only a couple of days of the week.

[ger2396]

Maybe they're waiting until after the game officially releases. That's the only reason I can think of.

[RegalRocks]

that is what i am thinking. The game actually officially releases tomorrow where i live

[MitchellK]

Maybe they are blocking it till tomorrow? The game only officially releases tomorrow, today is just the day 0 edition that's out for people who preordered. If it's completely blocked that would suck.

[e-p-ayeaH]

shareplay would only benefit the game even more let´s hope it isnt blocked out.

[madmonkey01]

only if the game is actually good. which it might be but the last few have been disappointing.

[e-p-ayeaH]

this one isnt at all belive me its pretty damm decent to say the least.

[Mikey94]

Funny I told people not every game would be supported on shareplay but whats new no one wanted to believe me.
http://imgur.com/wtRABza

[Orbilator]

Another one bubble doom and gloom merchant, get a life buddy, its not out yet officially. Share play has worked on every game I tried it on.

[BlackTar187]

i guess it you took the disagree had to do with you being incorrect and not just a hater

[Gore-Content]

Typical Activision..........

[SpinalRemains138]

That's wrong. Its not like Activision is losing anything. The service is a game promoter. They get extra promotions and for free to my living room.

Now, they have to rely on spending millions on commercials. This makes no sense.

Move away from spending on ads, and let the gamers experience a taste which costs Activision nothing and gets them interest.

Only a backwards douchebag could royally shit the bed on this one.

Business 101. Advertising is ludicrously expensive and any chance at free exposure is phenomenal in a business sense.

[Nicominoru]

In my opinion Ubisoft, Activision and EA are just examples of companies that don't want gaming to flourish into something greater unless of course they are the ones allowed to take the wheel.

[annus]

It's funny seeing people complain over something like this, yet you go on any 'piracy' article and it's all about 'hurting the developers'.

[TekKing]

I'm not surprised. They don't want people finding out that it's just another mediocre rehash again.

[kowan]

Maybe because the game is not yet released everywhere? It makes sense for them to block Shareplay to avoid people giving access to games that have not yet been released to everyone.

[quenomamen]

Freinds don't share tired ass games with friends.

[CPTN MITCHELL]

The problem I got today, can't connect because of slow Internet and i don't know why because I have 90mbps from bright house network..

[ironfist92]

Im was just gonna ask to Share Play so that I can play the four hour campaign. No way Im gonna shell out money for this game.

[aznpanda360]

Sony should just stop being like democrat and don't play nice... They should tell game company that they want this product to work for all their games and if they refuse than no business. It would've saved me 60$ bucks; i for one can care less about call of duty i have a xbox 1 and PC so i could've pick this game up ether way but refuse too. I could've pirate this game ehhhh didn't want too. Or go over to a friend house that has cod on their xbox1. I really believe share play is fun and when game with split screen it so bad ass to my screen and his screen on the same t.v screen

[MasterCornholio]

I remember when Blizzard refused to incorporate remote play into Diablo 3. Sony stepped in and forced them to add controls for remote play.

Even though I would like to see them do the same thing with shareplay, developers would never accept the feature if they didn't have any control over it.

[ONI5]

I doubt Sony has any power to force Blizzard or Activision to do anything.

[MasterCornholio]

@ONI5

They did with Diablo 3. Blizzard said no to remote play and Sony told them that if they didn't accept it they couldn't release the game on the PS4. Look what happened?

[ScaryMonkey]

I'm sure this will somehow get twisted into being Sony's fault.

[slinky123456]

What about Cod: Ghosts? Does that work? I see Publishers eventually making past games available to the service. New games though I can sort of understand. It is exploitable. Especially if a Publisher is not confident in their game, it could deter them.

[Ryan741]

Greatness await...BLOCKED!!!

[jrshankill]

This is for the gamers...

BLOCKED!!!

[NoDucks]

Greatness got Blocked. Sorry, just try putting your PS4 into *rest mode* for awhile :p

[silentnight]

What Icant play COD for free how dare they.

[JMyers]

Acti NO Vision

[OculusRift]

Before you guys going to slamming Activision, you guys know share play for every game is not guaranteed. Developers do not have to enable share play if they do not want to. That is an official Sony statement. There are pleanty of games that are not from Activision that do not support share play. Don't starve and Minecraft are two popular games that block it that come to mind. Share play is meant for you guys to play co-op together or for you to help user out in a game. I think that's why the hour restriction was set in place. Think most of you guys are looking at share play the wrong way. Share play is not meant to be used to play every game YOU want for free. With the recent PS+ complainers wanting popular recent games for free each month and you guys, honestly I think you guys are just being really greedy and I can't help but think somehow this is going to come back to bite you in the ass.

[CrowbaitBob]

I can't see wanting to use Share Play for the multiplayer. Clearly that'd make for a really crappy experience. It would be nice to be able to let my friends check out the single player though, if ony to get a bit of a feel for the exo abilities.

[2cents]

Strange.

I did not know that publishers could opt in or out of this feature. I thought it was part of the console.

Here we go...

[Clown_Syndr0me]

I expect this to me a common occurrence with online games.
I only ever play CoD with a mate, if he could shareplay it I wouldn't bother buying it lol.

[brandonb21]

Minecraft blocks share play as well

[feedthereaper]

I did say that Shareplay would only work if developers were on board and already one big name developer is clearly hesitant about it. It only takes a couple more developers to follow them and suddenly Shareplay becomes Betamax, brilliant technology that is shunned by the main players in the industry.

I did however, expect them to wait until post-xmas sales to see the extent of the positive/negatives that Shareplay has on sales, but maybe a large studio like Activision thought that people were going to by COD in their millions and there was no reason to risk people getting a fix of the game for free. Its a bit different for an Indie developer who wants to get their name/game out there, but for major hit successes, its worth shutting off Shareplay, and letting their marketing and internet hype do the selling instead! After all, most people are off the attitude these days that you got to buy what your friends have bought regardless of what its like!

[Revengeance]

Well in that case I'll be boycotting this game. This is stupidity on Activision's part.

[Grindlefly]

Do you guys think it could potentially be a parity type thing? It's a pretty big feature not available on rival consoles and I'm sure I read somewhere it used to be that a game released on both consoles couldn't have extra features?? Correct me if I'm wrong in that or if that was just the case for last gen. Just seems a bit weird that it's blocked

[Dyldog69]

Sony, drop the price of ps4 to match Xbox one this holiday season and its game over. Xbox one will never get back in the console race that way. Or are you too arrogant from being over confident on the way your box is selling now? Take the hit on the price and win the war. Don't and let a dangerous opponent stay in the fight. (Sorry for the lingo, i'm watching ufc right now)

[captainexplosion]

This is a big deal. Definetely bad for Sony. I love Sony but the passed couple months have not been good.

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

Enough people buy this franchise anyways...

[RedstonerMC]

I'm assuming this is to give the Day Zero pre order people their extra day of advantage. They did pre-order for that. however i understand not making a brand new game SharePlayAble