Valve’s In-Home Streaming feature for Steam – which has been in open beta since the start of the month – formally launched today and is available to all users. In-Home Streaming is one of the key components of the SteamOS, allowing users to stream games from their Windows PC to the Linux-based device.
In-Home Streaming isn’t just something for SteamOS users, though. Users with multiple PCs both running Steam on the same network can take advantage of the feature as well. You don’t need a Steam Machine.
So your old, exhausted PC that you shoved in the attic five years ago can now be brought into the living room, where you can play, for example, Wolfenstein: The New Order, streamed from you regular gaming PC. Or you could use a laptop or MacBook, taking advantage of the portability to play in random parts of your house.
Fancy a spot of Dark Souls 2 on the loo?
“When you play a game using In-Home Streaming, video and audio are sent through your home network from your high-end gaming PC to another device in your home,” Valve said in the announcement earlier today. “From here, your keyboard, mouse, and controller input is sent back to the remote computer.”
Of course, there’s still concerns about lag, and there may be other teething problems. Still, it’s a nifty feature if you want to play in various rooms without lugging your rig around with you like a gaming hobo.