Steam Remote Play -- Split screen multiplayer out of the box

I just got this from steam in my email


HEADS UP DEVELOPERS,
HERE COMES
REMOTE PLAY TOGETHER
COMING SOON TO STEAM BETA
We’re reaching out to let you know
about a new feature heading to Steam
Your local multiplayer games will soon be improved with automatic support for Remote Play Together on Steam. Remote Play Together is a new Steam feature that enables two or more players to enjoy local multiplayer games over the internet, together. We think this feature will be very valuable for customers and developers and are excited about the beta. We’ve provided an FAQ at the bottom of this message which we think addresses most questions and concerns.
All local multiplayer, local co-op, and split-screen games will be automatically included in the Remote Play Together beta, which we plan to launch the week of October 21. If you have any questions please contact us.

HERE’S HOW IT JUST WORKS
Using the Remote Play Together Beta, a player can simply launch any game with support for local multiplayer, local co-op or shared / split-screen features and then via the Steam Overlay, invite a Friend to join their game for some multiplayer fun. The invitation is just like handing a second controller to a friend. When the Friend accepts an invitation to play, it’s as though they’re playing side by side at the same machine. Much like a traditional split-screen experience, the host’s computer is running the game, but with Remote Play Together friends can join using their own controllers, voice, audio, and display — regardless of whether they also own the game on Steam.

Any controllers connected to the second player's computer will act as if they're plugged directly into the first computer. The player hosting the game can also choose to allow or block inputs to their shared keyboard and mouse.

Remote Play Together is built on top of Steam’s existing Remote Play technologies and supports up to 4 players and renders 60 frames per second at a resolution of 1080p. The feature requires a connection between 10 to 30 Mbps for a successful low-latency session, with results depending upon the Internet speeds of everyone playing. With fast connections, additional players may be supported.

NO ONLINE FEATURES OR SERVERS REQUIRED
This feature is designed to add value to multiplayer games which do not already have native online capabilities. It will soon be enjoyed among friends online using the Remote Play Together Beta, enabling fans to introduce your local multiplayer game to new audiences. Note that multiplayer games which are not explicitly designed for local play are still best enjoyed using the game’s built-in online system.
COMING SOON TO STEAM BETA
We look forward to bringing this new service to your local multiplayer games on Steam. If you have any questions, please reach out to the Steam team. A Remote Play Together Beta will soon be announced to Steam players everywhere.
Thanks so much,
The Steam Team

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
When is the Remote Play Together Beta launching?
The beta will launch the week of October 21. All users of the Steam Beta client will be able to access this feature.
What games will be included in the beta?
All games tagged with local co-op, local multiplayer, or split-screen will be included.
Do all players need to own the game in order to play it using Remote Play Together?
Remote Play Together is designed to re-create the experience of playing a game with a friend at your PC. Only the host needs to own the game to start a Remote Play Together session with their friends.
Does this mean anyone can play my game without buying it?
Similar to visiting a friend’s home to play a game, Remote Play Together is designed for small groups of Steam friends to enjoy games together. In order to play a game using Remote Play Together, a host must own the game and manually send an invite to each friend to play. When a game is exited, the remote play session is terminated. We don’t believe it’s feasible to use Remote Play Together to avoid purchasing games on Steam entirely, and like other promotional tools and features, we believe the additional exposure and fun players have will lead to additional revenue and player growth.
Can I opt-out of the beta?
Yes, though we would encourage you to try things out in the beta. If you prefer not to participate, let us know by emailing the Steam team at SteamPublish@valvesoftware.com.
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3629-RIAV-1617#whatisit

 

Unfortunately, the system is based around remote play and is a streaming service, which is a problem for a lot of people, mostly upstream wise, and also means that there's another big problem. A lot of split screen games are split screen because they benefit greatly from having no latency...

 

This will be a neat feature, even if it has more latency than true local players. It should increase interest in local multiplayer games on Steam.

 

Requirement is max. 30mbps for 1080p60. I think only the host is required to have this speed, as they need to transfer the video, whereas any attaching players would only need to send input data (This is only my assumptions, it could very well be that any clients would need a lot more bandwidth than I suggest).

You would only have to supply the person with the best upload speed with the game, and that's ignoring possibilities for lower resolutions, refresh rates and thresholds for quality. What about bandwidth requirements for 720p30?

As for latency, the only alternative you're going to get is visiting the friend you want to splitscreen with. And I highly doubt they developed this for the people who are able to do so. So I definitely welcome this as an alternative.

 

I get 10mbps up and my situation is hardly unique.

 

I was working on something like this, but turned out so was unity and steam.
https://forum.unity.com/threads/unity-render-streaming-introduction-faq.742481/page-2#post-5036948

The first release was only streaming to yourself, I bet the next version will have more players (then 4). This type of thing will be future, with 5G you will be able to upload/download gigs (rather than megs) per second.

What this mean for gaming is we wont have develop net code anymore, I think it will be a game changer. I think as long as your friend lives in the same city it will be okay, I was testing from newyork to toronto and it was okay for some games.

If they can ever get close to 0 latency

 

"Air latency" is not the game changer you think it is. While cell to tower is a factor, there's still the entire system between that and the other player.

 

Yeah I know I am hoping they will somehow have to solve it

 

DARK MAGIC!!!

 

If you don't mind the steep prices (AT&T's upcoming plan is $499 for the device plus $70/mo) with very limited bandwidth caps (AT&T's is 15GB/mo). Do you know how fast 15GB can be used up? Have you seen the costs that come with going over the limit for the majority of data plans?

https://www.rcrwireless.com/20190315/5g/how-much-will-5g-cost

 

I need to give this a go - I had good success with Playstation Now recently as it didn't feel weird streaming a video game remotely. I'd be happy if the latency was minimal for this too.