Valve Launches In-Home Streaming Service to the Public
We Lost a Little More of Our Souls to Steam Yesterday
Steam’s in-home streaming service, which allows you to virtually access the Steam games installed on your computer, opened to the public yesterday after ending beta testing.
In-home streaming allows players to access the games on their Steam account on other computers (connected to the home network) that don't have the game installed. The service works by having the player log into Steam on the host computer. Then they open library on the remote machine. Valve explained the process in a statement:
Players who have multiple computers at home can immediately take advantage of the new feature. When you login to Steam on two computers on the same network, they automatically connect, allowing you to remotely install, launch, and play games as though you were sitting at the remote PC.
The streaming service has a few flaws: it’s not yet available for OS X or Linux, does not support voice recording or surround sound, and user account control (UAC) can interfere with the stream. Additionally, you need to opt in to the Steam beta client on both computers.
However, for those who can access it, streaming is a pretty simple process: log in to the same account on both computers, and choose the game you want to play on the machine that you want to stream with. With that, you’re all set to utilize the new service.
