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Steam will introduce a new feature — Remote Play Together — which will let local multiplayer game be playable online (via Eurogamer).
Remote Play Together will be added to games that have local multiplayer, co-op, and split-screen mechanics, as stated in an email circulated to developers this week. The feature will be trialled in Steam Beta, firstly, and all a host player needs to do is send a manual invite up to four friends through the Steam Overlay.
Hidden in Plain Sight fans… BIG NEWS!
Steam is coming out with a new feature called "Remote Play Together", allowing local-multiplayer games to be played online! Only the host needs to own the game, and can invite remote friends to play online!
— Adam Spragg (@AdamSpragg) October 9, 2019
Remote Play Together will take care of the rest. Outlined in the email, Valve explained that the feature is designed for games that do not possess native online capabilities. The owner of the game — let’s say Gang Beasts — starts it up and invites a few of their friends to play too. When their friend accepts, it’s like ‘they’re playing side by side at the same machine.’ In addition, controllers plugged in to the friend’s computers act as if they’re a part of the host computer, and the host is able to allow or block inputs to their shared keyboard and mouse.
Thought it will all depend on each other’s internet speed, Remote Play Together ‘requires a connection between 10 to 30 Mbps for a successful low-latency session’, and with fast connections there is the possibility of inviting more than three players to the game.
The collection of games that will enjoy the new feature was not stated, but we’ll know more in the coming week. Remote Play Together will launch in Steam Beta on October 21 for all users of the client.
