How to Play PC Games on Android with Steam Link - The Happy Android

Although mobile games are not bad at all, it must be recognized that PC games are in a different league. We could say that mobile and tablet games are more aimed at casual players, while gamers opt for more niche, more specialized environments (and therefore with more power and technology behind them). Have you ever dreamed of it? day when we can hit some good addictions with our favorite Steam games directly on the mobile phone or on the TV Box of the living room? Today this is already possible thanks to Steam Link.

Steam Link was born in November 2015 as a hardware device intended to bring Valve's platform games to any TV screen wirelessly. However, the device was not very successful, and it was discontinued in 2018 in order to follow up on the Steam Link version in app format for mobile devices.

How to send your PC games to mobile, tablet or TV Box and play live thanks to Steam Link

The dynamics of Steam Link is pretty straightforward. On the one hand, we have a computer that is in charge of running the games and putting the processing power on the table. The Android device, for its part, all it has to do is synchronize with the PC and receive all that information via Wi-Fi. In this way, the mobile or tablet in question only has to make sure that it has a configured gamepad and a good Internet connection to support the transmission and that everything goes smoothly (in theory).

Previous requirements

In order to start playing our Steam games on mobile, we must first meet these requirements.

• Have Steam installed on your computer (download HERE).
• Install the Steam Link app on the Android device (download from Google Play HERE).
• Have a Bluetooth gamepad compatible with Android.
• Have a good Internet connection.

As part of the initial preparations, we have to make sure we have Steam open on the PC and a wireless controller connected to the mobile or tablet from where we are going to play. Likewise, it is essential that both the Android terminal and the desktop computer are connected to the same wifi network.

Step-by-step setup

Now that we have all the cards on the table, we open the Steam Link app on Android and we follow the following steps to synchronize both devices.

• In the first screen, click on the button "Start”For the system to search for other network devices that have Steam installed.
• If everything has gone well (remember that both devices must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network) we will see how our PC appears on the screen. We click on it.

• We write down the PIN that appears on the screen of our Android.

• Automatically, we will see how in the Steam desktop application on our computer a message appears where we can enter the PIN that we have just written down. We enter the PIN for the synchronization to take place.

• At this point, Steam Link will run a connection test on Android to confirm that there is enough bandwidth to stream the games.

If everything went well, both devices will be in sync and the Android screen will show the Steam interface in real time. Thus, using the gamepad that we have just paired, we can go to our Steam library and load any of the games that we have at our disposal.

Gaming experience

The Steam Link concept on paper is just great. But when it comes to playing, all that glitters is not gold. After having been testing several games, we have realized that some are not compatible with gamepad, so we will also need a keyboard and a mouse to be able to enjoy certain titles, since if not, the game simply does not work. load.

But this is not the biggest problem. The great obstacle of this tool is lag. A delay in controls and frame jumps that make some titles simply unplayable. It is necessary to have a very powerful connection that can support such data traffic. And if we plan to play triple A games, we'd better have the TV Box connected by cable to the network or be glued to the router, because if not, there won't be much we can do.

For the rest, if we opt for indie games and titles in which mechanics are more important than graphics, we may find ourselves with much more enjoyable experiences. Being able to test certain PC titles on the TV screen in the living room is a joy, and the synchronization process of the app is simple at best. Valve has undoubtedly developed an interesting platform, but we may still be a couple of years away from being able to take 100% of the advantages of this type of service. In any case, an essential app that everyone who has an Android TV should try at least once (and see if it's worth it).