You Want to Play Together, But Your Friend Doesn’t Own the Game
You just found the perfect co-op game. It’s hilarious, challenging, and exactly what your friend group needs for your next virtual hangout. There’s just one problem: your friend hasn’t bought it yet. Maybe they’re on the fence, or perhaps their gaming budget is tight this month.
In the past, this meant either gifting the game, waiting, or playing something else. But Steam has a built-in feature that solves this exact dilemma. It lets you share your game library in real-time, allowing friends to join you as if they owned the game themselves. This feature is called Remote Play Together, and it’s simpler to use than you might think.
What Is Steam Remote Play Together?
Remote Play Together is a free feature from Valve that streams your local multiplayer game session over the internet. When you invite a friend, they see your game screen and can control their own character using their keyboard, mouse, or controller from their computer.
Think of it like sharing your screen, but with a crucial upgrade: your friend gets their own input. The game runs entirely on your computer, the “host.” Your friend’s computer, the “guest,” only needs to decode the video stream and send back control inputs. This means they can join even if their own PC isn’t powerful enough to run the game natively.
What You Need Before You Start
Before you send out invites, make sure your setup meets a few basic requirements. This ensures a smooth experience for everyone involved.
First, both you and your friend need a Steam account and the Steam client installed. The guest does not need to own the game in their library. A stable internet connection is the most critical factor. As the host, your upload speed directly affects the quality for your friends. Valve recommends at least 10 Mbps upload for a good 1080p 60fps stream.
The game itself must support Remote Play Together. Thankfully, thousands do, including most popular local co-op and shared-screen multiplayer titles. You can easily check on any game’s Steam store page. Look for the “Remote Play Together” badge in the right-hand column under “Features.”
Finally, you’ll need compatible controllers if the game requires them. Guests can use keyboard and mouse, or connect their own controllers. Steam has excellent built-in support for Xbox, PlayStation, and many other gamepads.
Starting a Remote Play Together Session
Getting a game going with friends takes just a few clicks. The process is intuitive once you know where to look in the Steam overlay.
Launch Your Game and Open the Friends List
Start by launching the game you want to play on your computer. Once you’re at the main menu or in a point where you can invite players, press Shift+Tab. This opens the Steam overlay—the familiar semi-transparent screen that sits on top of your game.
Inside the overlay, click on “Friends & Chat” to open your friends list. You’ll see all your online Steam friends here. The key is that you must initiate the invite from within the game using this overlay. You cannot start a Remote Play session from the main Steam client library view.
Invite Your Friends Directly
Find your friend in the list. Right-click on their name. In the context menu that appears, you will see a new option: “Invite to Remote Play Together.” Click it.
Your friend will receive a notification in their Steam client, similar to a game invite. Once they accept, Steam will begin connecting. They may need to wait a moment as the stream initializes. Soon, they will see your game screen in a window on their own desktop and can start controlling their part of the game.
You can invite multiple friends this way, as long as the game supports the number of players. The overlay will show you who is currently connected to your session.
Optimizing Your Stream for the Best Experience
A poor connection can turn a fun night into a frustrating slideshow. Taking a minute to adjust settings can make a huge difference in playability, especially for fast-paced action games.
Access the Advanced Streaming Settings
While in a Remote Play session, open the Steam Overlay (Shift+Tab). Click on the “Remote Play” button at the top. This opens a dedicated settings panel for your active stream.
Here, you have several powerful controls. The most important is the “Streaming” dropdown. You can choose between “Fast,” “Balanced,” and “Beautiful.” For most multiplayer games, “Fast” is the best choice. It prioritizes low latency, which is crucial for responsive controls, even if it slightly reduces visual quality.
You can also manually adjust the resolution and frame rate limit. If you or your friend are on a slower connection, dropping the resolution to 720p can eliminate stuttering. The “Enable Hardware Encoding” option should generally be left on, as it uses your GPU to encode the video stream much more efficiently than your CPU.
Managing Bandwidth and Performance
As the host, your computer is doing the heavy lifting. For the best performance, close unnecessary background applications that use CPU, GPU, or network bandwidth. This includes web browsers with many tabs, video streaming services, and large file downloads.
If possible, connect your host PC to your router via an Ethernet cable instead of Wi-Fi. A wired connection provides a more stable and consistent upload speed, which is the backbone of the stream. Ask your friend to do the same if they are experiencing visual artifacts or input delay.
Troubleshooting Common Connection Problems
Sometimes, things don’t connect on the first try. Connection issues are usually related to network configurations. Here are the most common fixes.
Dealing with Firewall and Router Blocks
The most frequent blocker is a firewall. Steam needs specific ports open to establish a direct peer-to-peer connection. First, ensure Steam is allowed through your Windows Firewall. You can check this in Windows Security under “Firewall & network protection” and then “Allow an app through firewall.”
If problems persist, you may need to enable UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) on your home router. This allows Steam to automatically forward the necessary ports. You can access your router’s settings by typing its IP address (like 192.168.1.1) into a web browser. The location of the UPnP setting varies by router brand, but it’s often found under “Advanced Settings,” “NAT,” or “Firewall.”
As a last resort, you can try switching Steam’s remote play connection type. In the main Steam client, go to Steam > Settings > Remote Play. Change the “Advanced Host Options” to “Use my Steam Relay.” This routes the connection through Valve’s servers, which can bypass tricky NAT situations, though it may add a small amount of latency.
When Audio or Video is Choppy
If the stream is connecting but the quality is poor, systematically lower the demand. Go back to the “Remote Play” settings in the overlay and set the streaming quality to “Fast.” Limit the frame rate to 30 FPS. Reduce the resolution to 720p.
Check both computers’ network activity. On Windows, open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and go to the “Performance” tab to see your current upload speed usage. If it’s maxed out, you know bandwidth is the bottleneck.
Also, verify that the host computer isn’t overheating or hitting 100% CPU/GPU usage in-game. Lowering the game’s own graphics settings can free up resources for a smoother encode and stream.
Great Games to Play With Remote Play Together
The feature shines with games designed for couch co-op. These titles typically have simple controls and shared-screen gameplay that translates perfectly to a stream.
– Overcooked! 2: The chaotic cooking simulator is even more fun (and stressful) when you can’t yell across the same room.
– Lethal League Blaze: A competitive projectile-dodging fighting game that’s easy to learn and wildly entertaining.
– Cuphead: Take on the brutal run-and-gun boss battles with a friend sharing the struggle.
– Moving Out: The spiritual sibling to Overcooked, focused on moving furniture in the most disastrous way possible.
– Streets of Rage 4: A modern beat-’em-up that perfectly captures the classic arcade experience.
You can discover more by browsing the Steam store and using the “Remote Play Together” filter under “Narrow by Feature.”
Understanding the Limits and Etiquette
Remote Play Together is an incredible tool, but it’s not a perfect replacement for every multiplayer scenario. Knowing its boundaries helps set the right expectations.
The biggest limitation is that only the host needs to own the game. This is a pro for your friends, but it means you cannot switch roles mid-session. Your friend cannot host the game from their library unless they also purchase it. The experience is also inherently dependent on the host’s internet connection. If your upload speed is poor, everyone will have a bad time.
There’s also a slight input lag, typically between 30 to 100 milliseconds. This makes it less ideal for ultra-competitive, twitch-reaction games like first-person shooters or fighting game tournaments. It’s perfect, however, for cooperative adventures, puzzle games, and casual party titles.
As for etiquette, communication is key. Use a voice chat app like Discord to talk, as the in-game audio is part of the stream your friend hears. Be patient if they experience technical issues—the goal is to have fun together, after all.
Your Next Game Night Is Ready
Steam Remote Play Together removes a major barrier to playing with friends. It turns your personal library into a shared experience, letting you try out co-op games risk-free before your friends buy them. The setup is straightforward, and with a little attention to your network settings, you can achieve a seamless, lag-free experience.
Start by checking your favorite local multiplayer games for the Remote Play Together badge. The next time you’re planning an online hangout, launch the game, open your Steam overlay, and send that invite. In moments, you’ll be sharing laughs, strategies, and gameplay, no extra purchases required. It’s one of the most consumer-friendly features in PC gaming, and it’s already sitting in your Steam client, waiting to connect you and your friends.
