Tearaway PS4's Second-Screen Functionality Explained

Tearaway Unfolded, the PlayStation 4 port of Media Molecule's Vita game from 2013, will have significant second-screen functionality when it launches this fall. Today, the developer explained what this functionality will entail.

In a post on the PlayStation Blog, community manager Jenny Lawrence discussed the game's companion app. Most notably, it will let players interact with the game's creative features on their mobile devices. In the game's original Vita version, players made designs using the handheld's touchscreen. Because of the limitations of the PS4's controller, these features are now usable on mobile devices.

In addition, this companion app effectively lets the PS4 version have the same camera functionality as the Vita version. On the Vita, the game used the handheld's cameras to let you import photos into the game to be used as patterns. The companion app lets players do the same thing using mobile devices. The game also has optional PS4 camera support that provides the same functionality.

The companion app also communicates with the game in real time, so if you customize your character in the app, the changes will immediately appear in the game. This also means that you can send objects into the game's world from the app. Lawrence wrote that this lets the game essentially have an element of asynchronous multiplayer--one person could play the game itself, and one person could add different items to the game from the app.

Interestingly, if you have a Vita, you can use the handheld as the second screen. Entering into the PS4 second-screen mode on the Vita while Tearaway Unfolded is running will let you use the companion app from the Vita.

Tearaway Unfolded launches September 8 on PS4. For more on the game, you can read our preview here. We found that the game makes great use of the PS4's controller.