Steam

Use Steam to run the game on another PC and play it remotely

Page update date :
Page creation date :

Operating environment

OS
  • Windows 11
Steam client
  • 1733265492 (2024/12/3)

Prerequisites

OS
  • Windows 10
  • Windows 11
  • SteamOS
Steam client
  • 1733265492 (2024/12/3) or later

Prerequisites (required)

  • Two Windows or SteamOS PCs
  • The two PCs are networked
  • Administrator privileges on your PC (because of the installation process)

Prerequisites (recommended)

The following are not mandatory, but recommended.

  • The host must have the appropriate specs to run the game.
  • High-speed network connections. Wired is preferred, but high-speed wireless connections are also possible.

At first

Recently, there has been a growing trend of relying on another PC or server to run the game itself, and using only remote play to control the game. In particular, some SONY and Microsoft releases games so that they can be played in such an environment.

Remote play for these games can also be built by yourself, rather than from the manufacturer. In the past, there was a way to customize and build the remote desktop function for games, but sometimes it was troublesome to build the environment and performance was difficult.

The remote play feature of the game provided by Steam will make it easy to play remotely. Valve, which runs Steam, basically earns money from commissions on game sales, so these infrastructure-like features are almost free to use. Since it is a Steam feature, you may think that only Steam games are supported, but you can also play locally installed games and games with a single EXE file remotely. Keep in mind, however, that you may not be able to play games that are not available on Steam remotely.

This section describes the procedure for remote play.

Create a Steam account

To use Steam features, you need to create an account. There is no charge for creating an account.

Skip the account creation step. Even if you have multiple PCs, you only need one account.

Create an account from the page below.

Installing the Steam Client

It must be installed on the host side and the client side. This can also be installed free of charge. The Steam client includes the Remote Play feature.

Skip the installation step. Please download and install it from the following page.

Prepare the game on the host side

It uses Steam features, but you can also play games remotely that you don't buy on Steam. There are three main patterns, but the procedure is slightly different.

  • Games purchased on Steam
  • Games installed on Windows
  • A game that runs an EXE file

In either case, make sure that the game can run on the host side.

Games purchased on Steam

Games purchased on Steam don't have any hassles. All you have to do is download it so that the game works on the host side. It's a good idea to check if the game works on the host side just in case.

Games installed on Windows

You can specify a game that you have installed on Windows, for example, using an installer. To make a game eligible for remote play, you need to add it to your library.

In the bottom left corner of the Steam client, select "Add Game" and then select "Add Non-Steam Game".

Select the game you want to play from the list. By the way, if you install a game, it may not appear in this list, but the conditions are not known. If it does not appear in the list, please select it in the next procedure. Once selected, click the "Add Selected Programs" button.

If it has been added to your library and the game can be launched, you should be good to go. The name is the installation name, so if you don't like it, you can change it from the properties.

A game that runs an EXE file

As in the previous item, select "Add Non-Steam Game" from "Add Game" in the Steam client.

Click Browse.

Select the EXE file where you can run the game. If it's a game, I think it's okay to use an extension other than an EXE file, but I haven't tried it.

It will be added to the list, so select the "Add selected program" button.

It will be added to your library, so check if you can run the game.

Client-side configuration

If you set the host side, you can basically play remotely without doing anything on the client side. Remote Play basically sends video from the host side to the client to play the game, which affects the quality and latency of the video.

Lowering the quality of the video will improve the response, but it will make the video more likely to be distorted. If you improve the quality of the video, you can display a beautiful image, but the operation response of the game may be poor. This is your preference for how you want to play the game, so set it accordingly.

These communications can be configured in the client-side Steam client. Select "Settings" from the Steam menu in the Steam client.

Select Remote Play from the menu on the left.

You can leave the default for the host side with advanced streaming options. Set it to your liking.

On the client side, you can configure the communication content in detail. If the line is high-speed, I think there is no problem even if you set it to high quality. Please adjust this by actually playing it.

Play games on the client side

If the game is installed on the host side and the game is not installed on the client side, the game will still appear in the client-side library. When you select a game, it is "Streaming" instead of "Play".

Clicking the streaming button will launch the game on the host side, and then the client will also display the screen and play the game.

By the way, on the client side, the game starts in full screen by default, but it is possible to switch to windowed mode with the "Alt + Enter" keys.