An update to Valve's Steam Link game streaming device has made it possible to stream to two separate displays at the same time, meaning you can play couch coop games in different rooms, or on different displays in the same room. In either case, it makes it possible to play cooperative games with a full-screen a piece, rather than split screening it.
Valve has improved its Steam Link hardware a lot over the past few years, adding new features, improving its streaming quality over wireless and wired connections, and bringing its price down significantly. Although it typically retails for $50, Valve often puts it on sale bundled with compatible games, selling it for as little as a dollar or two in some cases.
In the latest Steam client patch, Valve made a number of updates to the main client, but the Steam Link was a part of that. Its newly updated features and fixes include:
- You can play local co-op by streaming to multiple devices simultaneously (high quality 5 GHz WiFi network required)
- You can use your Android phone as a touch controller for games by tapping to disable audio and video in the
- Steam Link app
- Fixed stopping streaming from the in-game Big Picture overlay
- The streaming protocol now uses UDP ports 27031-27036
You can buy a Steam Link from a number of retailers, or right through Steam itself. We'd recommend waiting for a sale though. Black Friday will no doubt see it go for a few dollars at most.
