Edit: added 2025 update post to end of thread

I think it's cool to be able to self host your own media.

For videogames, there's lots of cloud gaming options (Nvidia, stadia oh wait nevermind lmao), but even more self hosted streaming options. I want to compile the possibilities of self hosted cloud gaming as well as issues therein, so that I and others can evaluate the possibilities and maybe help each other improve the experience.

Self hosted cloud streaming generally means you have a big gaming PC in your room, and you can "plug into it" over the internet or your home network so you can play games from other hardware without needing to install the games or have powerful hardware elsewhere. This is different that game streaming services like Stadia who use their own hardware.

For self hosted game streaming writ large, I'm aware of the following options, each of which I'll expand on after I list them:

* Steam in-library streaming

* Steam Link streaming app

* Steam Link OS streaming

* Moonlight App streaming

* Nvidia shield streaming (deprecated)

Please lemme know if I missed any options and I'll update.

Steam in-library streaming:

To do this, have a device with the steam desktop application installed, such as another PC, laptop, steam deck, etc. All operating systems are fine as far as I know, but this doesn't work on phones. Also, I think this only works if you're on the same network as the host PC.

Open your library, find a game that's installed or not, click the little drop-down link on the install or play button, and you should see your host device available.

You may need to pair the devices before this is possible.

This method is easy in that if requires no set-up and is a great option for steam deck users. The downside is I don't think it works over the internet, I think you have to be on your local network. Good for bed gaming.


Steam link streaming app

There's an app for Android devices, and maybe iOS I'm not sure, called "steam link." Once installed, you pair your host PC (must be done while you have physical access to the host PC), then later you can launch the app on your android device and connect into big picture mode on the host device. USB and Bluetooth devices are passed through so you can use controllers on the paired device.

Use cases include using the app directly on a smart TV, or using an Android device with HDMI out over usbc as a hub. Recommend finding a USB dock with Ethernet for best results.

Really nice for full mobile gaming as works over the internet. I've gamed from hotel rooms with my phone plugged into the hotel TV.

Also, I think a lot of people miss this, it can also be used as a simple desktop streaming app. Simply minimize big picture mode and suddenly you have access to a full windows desktop on an Android device. You can launch any app, view any content on your harddrives, access local network devices, etc.

Downsides is I've heard smart TVs can be buggy when using them as a hub.

Interestingly, you can install the steam link Linux app on steam deck devices, allowing you to for example stream non steam games (great for emulation!) that aren't available with the steam library streaming option.

Steam link streaming OS

The steam link hardware device that valve sold once, has installed on it a Linux flavor that I call steam link os. You can run it using a steam link box (similar to Nvidia shield devices) or install the operating system on a raspberry pi: https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/6424-467A-31D9-C6CB

If you have the original steam link box, this is a phenomenal plug and play method for at home streaming: for example if you want your living room to be a couch gaming location without needing to drag out your PC. The box has a built in steam controller dongle, USB ports, Ethernet port, built in wifi (not recommended), and Bluetooth radio.

Unfortunately recent updates to big picture mode have made this very unstable for me. In general it has also been buggy for me especially for streaming emulation software.

Also, this only works within the internal network.

Bonus: you can install moonlight on these devices.

moonlight

I don't know too much about this, but moonlight is an app available for different platforms that functions somewhat similarly to the steam link app option. Good for full remote cloud gaming. I could never get it to properly recognize a steam controller which made it a non starter for me.

Allegedly, the moonlight App uses the same protocol or whatever as Nvidia shield, which apparently allows the GPU to communicate directly with the network hardware, leading to less input lag. I never noticed a difference: if you're on Ethernet on all devices, you're probably good with any method.


conclusion

My biggest curiosity is which of these options are valve going to focus on most, if any, in the future? My guess is the library option and maybe steam link app. I hope they have people dedicated to self hosted cloud gaming because it's been an absolute delight using the steam deck to play games hosted by my PC at absurdly high graphics settings. What's incredible is I can even be in another part of the country and play games with very little lag. Not good for rhythm games but fine for cyberpunk.

What's worked for other people? What's your set up, use cases, issues?

Right now I'm trying to set up my steam deck like a Nintendo switch: when docked, it can easily stream from the desktop using either the library stream or the app if I want to stream something emulated (ps3 games for example). Then I can grab and go if I want to play on the deck hardware itself. Or if my PC is unavailable (rendering or whatever) I can just leave it docked and play on the couch downstairs anyway, just limited to games that run well on docked deck hardware.