Steam’s ‘Remote Play Together’ is now in beta

Less than two weeks ago, Steam announced that players would be able to force couch co-op games to work online through a feature it called “Remote Play Together”. The feature is now available to all in beta form.

Announced in a blog post, Steam has detailed the exact specifics of how the feature works – and it’s really simple. Remote Play Together works with local co-op, local multiplayer, and even split screen games. Up to four players can connect to the same instance, although Steam does say that more may be supported in ideal conditions, presumably dependent on your internet connection.

While this feature could have been used as a ploy to incentivise more people to purchase games, only the host will need to have bought and installed the game – as would be the case if you were playing locally with someone. All other players will connect through Steam’s Remote Play streaming technology.

The way it works is simple: After joining the beta, any game with local multiplayer will have an option to “Remote Play Together” with your friends list in the Steam overlay. Once it’s initiated, the controllers will act as if they are connected to the host’s computer, while functionality such as voice chat and volume control will still be present.

To reduce any privacy concerns Steam has confirmed that only the game screen will be shared with everyone, your desktop and files will be safe from view, if you choose to tab out momentarily. Steam’s Remote Play Together is available across PC, Mac and Linux. Keep in mind that being a beta, there may be instabilities, bugs, and other various hiccups. You can join the Remote Play Together beta by reading the instructions here.

KitGuru says: Will you be joining the beta? Which games did you wish had online multiplayer? Let us know down below.

Become a Patron!