By systematically investigating the light emission and scattering properties of arrays of Au nanoparticles with varying size and separation, we demonstrate tunability and control of metal photoluminescence and unveil the critical role of near-field plasmonic coupling for the engineering of active metal nanostructures. We show that the decay of photoexcited electron-hole pairs into localized surface plasmons (LSPs) dramatically modifies the Au emission wavelength, line shape, and quantum efficiency depending both on particles size and separation. In particular, in arrays with near-field coupled nanoparticles we demonstrate broad light scattering and emission spectra that scale differently with respect to nanoparticle size due to the enhanced LSP nonradiative decay caused by near-field interparticle coupling. Our experimental results are fully supported by semianalytical extinction simulations based on rigorous coupled wave analysis, which demonstrate the importance of tuning plasmonic near-field coupling for the engineering of active devices based on light emitting arrays of metallic nanoparticles.