Steam Remote Play Together, a new feature that enables remote Steam users to play local multiplayer games together as if they were sitting on the same couch, is now available to everyone. To get things rolling, Steam is holding a Remote Play Together Sale and Streaming Event with streamers from around the world showcasing the new feature, and hundreds of games that support it on sale.
Remote Play Together enables up to four people, "or even more in ideal conditions," to share a game as if they were all together in the same room. The host launches the game and then extends invites to friends via an option in Steam's friends list overlay; when they accept, their controllers will behave as though they were plugged directly into the host's PC. Everyone is connected via voice chat, and only the host needs to own the game that's being played—everyone else can just hop on for the ride. To avoid any potential unpleasantness, only the game is shared, not the desktop or any other files, and the host can also limit remote access to the keyboard and mouse.
We tested the system last month when it went into beta, and found that it works surprisingly well. Connection quality can be an issue, but that's true of any internet-based service, and there were occasional spots of input lag, although nothing that couldn't be overcome. But overall, Tyler wrote, "this new feature is playful and generous," and provides owners of local multiplayer games a new way to get more out of them.
One other big change is that with Remote Play Together now out of beta, its functionality is now available on iOS and Android devices, enabling cross-platform play across Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, and Android hardware.
The Steam Remote Play Together sale is live now and runs until 10 am PT on November 25.
