We have witnessed cloud gaming projects that you let you play remotely from your smartphone. However, Steam has added an interesting local multiplayer feature that expands its reach over the Internet – Steam Remote Play.
Normally, for a game that supports Local multiplayer co-op fun (up to 4 players), you need to be present in a single location.
Now, with Steam Remote Play, you can jump right into a game that supports a local multiplayer mode, remotely.
You can even share your input keyboard/controller with your friend. To make it work, you just need to have Steam installed on your device (PC/mobile).
In addition to the ability to play local multiplayer games over the Internet, the best part is – you do not require to purchase the game or own it separately.
Only the host (with a PC) needs to own the game on Steam and all they have to do is just invite their friends using Steam Chat to join in for local multiplayer action over the Internet. It works similar to how you invite friends over to join your game on Steam.
Fret not, if you do not own a game that supports local multiplayer feature, there’s an ongoing Steam Remote Play sale that is offering massive discounts on supported games.
It is also worth noting that the host PC needs a good reliable Internet connection to be able to stream a 1080p feed stream at 60 FPS and probably a wired network for 4k streams.
You can learn more about it on Steam’s official announcement post.