During the last few weeks, the famous Valve gaming platform, Steam, ran a beta test for a tool that allows to stream games between computers of the same family. After the latest update, this functionality is available for everybody.

It has been a long time since Steam started this beta program on a selected group of users, but finally the tests are over and this functionality is available for everybody. Thanks to the latest update, you will be able to use your Steam account on two different PC, as long as they are on the same local network.

At the moment you must use a Windows OS on your primary computer to be able to use the streaming service. It is quite nice if you think about it as you might have a great gaming rig in one room, and a discrete PC in your living room, where your big 1080p screen is. Thanks to this new functionality, you can play your games on your big screen, and you just need to install Steam on your secondary PC. The second PC does not need to have any kind of OS restrictions, the streaming service can work on Windows, Mac, Linux and Steam OS. Once you reach your Games Library on Steam, aside from the “Play” button, you will find the “Stream” button.

This system is based on the monitor sharing functionality, because it allows you to control your primary rig through your discrete second rig. Of course this will take a toll on both machines, but it allows you to play games at 1080p even on a less powerful system that might not even be able to run 720p games. Interesting fact is that as long as games are are inside your gaming library, you can use this service for non-Steam games too.




Source: Le Comptoir du Hardware.