Games that you would normally need to play with other people present, watching the same screen, can now be played with friends together remotely using Steam’s new feature: Remote Play Together.
The feature just launched into Steam Beta and players need only one copy of the game to share their experience remotely, over the internet with friends. Said friends need only their own Steam account and a controller to join.
The beta feature can also use keyboard and mouse, but that requires permission because acts as the local keyboard and mouse.
It is also possible to play cross-platform – for example a Mac player can join a Windows game – and there is also voice chat. The system currently works across Windows, Mac and Linux.
Remote Play Together uses a similar technology to Steam’s already existing Remote Play feature. This feature enabled players to launch and run games on another computer on the same home network and then stream the display across that network. This would enable anyone to play a game on one computer but run it on another.
In this instance, Remote Play Together will connect across the Internet.
Remote players will only be able to see the game running and will not be able to spy on the host’s desktop, for example.
To activate Remote Play Together, open a game with local multiplayer, open the Steam Overlay (default is shift+tab), click on the friend you want to invite, select “Remote Play Together,” and away you go.
Valve warned users that this feature is in beta and that hiccups are to be expected. The company also stated that it will use this time to improve network performance and stability. So, stay tuned.
Be sure to activate Steam Beta to get access to this feature!
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