How do I share PlayStation Plus with family?

PlayStation Plus (PS Plus) subscriptions can be shared with child family members on one PS5 and one PS4 console when you set your account as the primary account. This allows child accounts to access online multiplayer gaming, monthly free games, Share Play streaming, and any games purchased on the primary account while signed in. However, certain benefits like monthly PlayStation 5 games are limited only to the master PS Plus account.

Below I‘ll walk through everything involved in setting up and utilizing PlayStation Plus family sharing.

Add child family members

The first step is to add child accounts under your account in the Family Management settings:

1. Sign in on your PlayStation console as the master account holder and go to Settings > Parental Controls/Family Management > Family Management.

2. Select Add Family Member > Create User.
   

3. Enter the child‘s name, date of birth, and follow any additional prompts to create their account profile and customize parental control restrictions for communications, content, spending limits, and gameplay schedules.

Once child accounts are created, navigate to the Family Management section to add more users, adjust restrictions, monitor activity, enable features like Family on PlayStation Network, and manage your family group.

Tip: You can link your child‘s account to their own email address once they are old enough.Accounts can only be transferred to another email address once per 6 months.

Share PS Plus on one console generation

Your PlayStation Plus membership can be shared with all family members on one PS5 console and one PS4 console when those devices have your account set as the primary account.

To set a console as primary:

1. Log in to your account on the PS5 or PS4 you want to enable sharing on
2. Go to Settings > Users and Accounts > Other > Console Sharing and Offline Play
3. Select Enable as your Primary PS5 or Primary PS4

This tells the PlayStation Network that this particular device and all accounts signed in should have access to your PS Plus membership perks.

Benefits family members gain by being on your primary console

• Online multiplayer gaming
• Monthly PlayStation Plus games
• Share Play (remote streaming)
• Play your purchased digital games
• Share PlayStation Now and PlayStation Video subscriptions
• 10GB cloud storage

What family members don‘t get:

• Monthly PS5 PlayStation Plus games
• Exclusive discounts and early access
• Cloud storage for game saves (only primary account)

You can have multiple family members with accounts across generations of PlayStation consoles. However, the PlayStation Plus sharing is limited to one PS5 and one PS4 to prevent widespread account sharing.

For context, a 2022 survey showed 68% of parents utilize console family settings to manage gaming time and content access for their children. Enabling family sharing is an easy way to unlock online gameplay and entertainment options for everyone in your household through a single PS Plus membership.

Real-time sharing with Share Play

One benefit available on all devices across any account type is Share Play. This streams your gameplay live to another PlayStation Plus subscriber, allowing them to watch along on their own screen.

You can Share Play single-player games while chatting over headsets or use it in local multiplayer games to virtually "pass the controller" back and forth.

Some popular games I‘ve used Share Play with family members for include:

• Minecraft
• LEGO video games
• Overcooked
• LittleBigPlanet 3
• Rocket League

The possibilities here are incredible. As long as the other person has an active PS Plus membership, they can join your session without needing to own the same games.

Share Play does have timed limitations to prevent extensive account sharing, but it‘s more than suitable for fun family gameplay – especially when between siblings with lots of gaming opinions!

Share Play Requirements

• Active PS Plus subscription on both accounts
• PS5 and PS4 (not available on PS3)
• Internet connection speed of at least 5Mbps

Share Play Limitations

• 1 hour limit per session
• Share Play suspends during rest mode
• Only available for real-time gameplay, not downloads

Purchase games and set age restrictions

Another major perk of adding family members is establishing parental controls around game content and purchasing capabilities.

As the family manager, you can customize which rating levels (EC, E, E10+, T, M, etc.) each child has permission to play or view in the PlayStation Store. Prevent them from accessing mature titles without your approval.

I recommend browsing the Store together and calling out fun looking games to add to their wishlist. Things like Kena, Sackboy, and Spider-Man are big hits with the 5-10 year old demographic based on my personal experience.

The same concept applies to buying games, DLC, subscriptions, and any in-app purchases. Pick price thresholds you‘re comfortable with for each child to limit spending.

Sample Parental Control Settings for Child Accounts

Gaining online access or playing more mature games can be an incentive for completing chores and other responsibilities. Great ways to engrain healthy habits.

Key takeaways

While you can only share the full benefits of PlayStation Plus across family members on one PS5 and one PS4 console, there are still plenty of tools to utilize.

• Share Play for real-time online gameplay works on any device type
• Customize parental control configurations for each child
• Link PSN accounts to monitor usage and communications
• Designate primary consoles for sharing games and multiplayer access

Sony limits sharing to prevent widespread account abuse. Yet provides families with enough functionality for responsible entertainment.

Let me know if you have any other questions! I‘m happy to offer tips for managing family members and making the most of PlayStation Plus based on my own experiences. Game on!