Opinion: Why Steam Must Bring PC Streaming to Mobile

Although some might consider it to be little more than a cute little gimmick, streaming games from one device to another could be one of the most impressive innovations to hit gaming within the past few years. Practically every game console has the ability to do it in some form, including how the Wii U can stream to its GamePad and the way the PS4 games can be played on a Vita, an Xperia mobile device, or the PlayStation TV. Microsoft is taking a reverse approach by letting Xbox One games stream to Windows 10 PCs. But I want to focus specifically on Steam In-Home Streaming.

Streaming is an especially important innovation for PC gamers because it frees them from being chained to a desk, usually located in an isolated corner or the house. By streaming from one device to another, you can play games on a less powerful device without compromising on graphical fidelity or performance. That way, PC games can be brought to large screen televisions in the living room and played on incompatible devices like Macs.

While there are other ways to bring PC gaming to the living room, like purchasing an relatively inexpensive micro computer or hooking up a gaming laptop to your television, streaming presents one of the best options for ease and quality. Steam Link, a dedicated streaming device, promises to make the technology small enough to fit in the palm of your hand while retailing for the relatively low price of $50. Yet, in all of Steam's efforts to bring PC gaming to the living room, it might be missing the bigger picture. Although it's a great first step, the distance from the computer room to the living room doesn't go far enough. PC streaming needs to extend to mobile devices.

Although there are a number of hurdles involved, the least of which being the low power of many mobile devices. While the technology might appear as simple as streaming an online movie, playing a high-end game over a network does require a decent amount of processing power. However, the PS4 remote play on Xperia devices demonstrates that it's possible with the current generation of hardware.

More importantly, the Nvidia Shield Tablet (despite its overheating problem) can stream games from an PC (equipped with the right video card) to a remote Wi-Fi network using GameStream. Although the remote streaming feature is still in beta, and suffers from occasional hiccups, it works. Given some time, I'm sure many of the kinks will be ironed out, especially as more powerful devices come out. So, there's no reason the technology can't be applied can't be applied to Steam and its mobile app.

While Steam is often credited for pushing PC gaming forward, it has been remarkably slow to develop in the mobile area. Steam's mobile app spent a long while as little more than a catalogue and alert app before extra functionality like chat and remote installation were added. A new update to the app, which adds streaming capabilities, is a long time coming. Players should stream games to their tablets, and it wouldn't hurt to have virtual controls, either. At the very least, In-Home streaming should broaden its reach to remote networks.

As the largest PC gaming service, Steam needs to take the lead in freeing gamers from being stuck in front of a desktop all the time. It already makes it possible for players to bring their games anywhere by downloading it from the cloud and installing onto any computer they log into. Streaming to remote networks would be a natural extension to that portability. Gamers can use their PCs as game servers and access it from remote locations like a cafe or a friend's place. It could solve the problem of having to wait hours for a game to install before playing. But most of all, it gives gamers freedom to game from any location with Wi-Fi.

The Nvidia Grid service, which streams games from the cloud to Shield devices, would be a viable solution if it weren't limited to select devices. Even if it weren't, its library rarely includes the latest releases, nor does it have a collection as broad as what's available on Steam. However, Nvidia should be credited for at least trying to make PC gaming more mobile by porting games to Android and streaming from the Grid, even if those games are limited only to Shield devices. Steam should be taking a step in the same direction.

Allowing gamers to play their favorite games, at high quality, from their tablets would go a long way toward making PC gaming as publicly commonplace as consoles. Not to mention, there's a immense sense of satisfaction if being able to play The Witcher 3 without having to be trapped inside the house. No more jokes about getting more sunlight.