Valve, the makers of Steam, is today launching a major new feature for Steam’s desktop client today. The company is releasing a new feature called Remote Play Together in beta, which allows users to play their local multiplayer games with their friends online.

The idea here is that instead of having to bring in your friends to your couch, they can simply join in on the local multiplayer games as if it were a regular online multiplayer game.

Remote Play Together allows up to four players to play in a game at once, and it may even allow more players in “ideal” conditions. Only the host of the game needs to own and install the game, so that means your other friends won’t even need to buy the game to join in on the fun. You can also play cross-platform, so even if you are running a game on your Windows 10 PC, your other friends can join in from their Mac or Linux device, and vice-versa.

The feature essentially allows your friends’ controllers to act as if they are plugged into your computer, though you can even give your friends access to your own keyboard and mouse. Valve says the feature is already available for thousands of titles, and you can try it out with the beta Steam app right now. 

Tagged with Remote Play Together, Steam, Valve