Your Steam PC Games on a Smart TV

20 Nov Your Steam PC Games on a Smart TV

Almost all Smart TVs come ready to install the Steam Link app, but even if they don’t, there are various ways to play your Steam games from your PC on a Smart TV without physically connecting the PC to the TV.

Steam has long been the reference platform for PC gaming, and one of the reasons for this is—not only the sales periods and its extensive catalog—the great versatility it offers users. For this reason, in this tutorial, we’ll assume that you have a PC, have Steam, and obviously have games in your Steam library to be able to play them on the Smart TV (but be careful, as not all are compatible).

It’s worth mentioning that Valve prepared Steam for this possibility of running its launcher on devices other than computers. To do this, they developed a specific interface called Big Picture, which transformed the classic PC interface into one more like consoles, with more visually striking graphics, compact menus, and, above all, very focused on making it easy to use with a gamepad. This interface was later used as a reference to integrate it into their now-famous Steam Deck, and it has become a distinguishing element from other console-like PCs running Windows 11.

Setting Options on Your PC

The first step is to open Steam on your PC and check that you have Remote Play active.

To do this, simply go to *Steam → Settings*, and on the *Remote Play* tab, make sure it’s enabled.

You don’t need to adjust anything else here, though it’s recommended to set *Client Settings* to “High” for the best quality. It’s also recommended that both the PC and the Smart TV be connected to the home network via cable for a better connection.

Now, to connect the controller, there are several options, but the Smart TV must be compatible. If the TV has Bluetooth, you should pair the controller, and if it doesn’t, connect it by cable.

What Controllers Are Compatible?

Steam is compatible with a wide variety of controllers, but most PC games use the DirectInput API, so we recommend using an Xbox controller. While the PlayStation controller is compatible, it doesn’t use the same symbols, and while the Nintendo controller does, the letters on the front buttons are swapped (A is B, and X is Y).

Another reason is that the Xbox controller, if you have it with the Wireless Adapter, will communicate via Wi-Fi Direct rather than Bluetooth, reducing control latency in games, which is important since we’re not playing directly with the PC.

You can also use the Steam Controller, which is no longer officially for sale, but you can find it in many second-hand stores. This one shouldn’t give you any problems for playing games, and we recommend finding one. However, it runs on batteries, so we suggest buying rechargeable ones and always keeping spares on hand in case they run out at the worst moment during a game.

How to Play Steam on the Smart TV

The best way to play a video game is on a large screen. Unfortunately, we tend to think this can only be done with a game console, not with a Gaming PC at home. But with Steam Link, we can stream our games to the home TV in real time if they share the same local internet network, i.e., the same router. This system works like Cloud Gaming, but in this case, our gaming PC is the server, thus reducing latency.

We have several different options for playing Steam games on a Smart TV, which will depend on our setup. Here’s how to sync with each available option to get the most out of each one.

If you have a modern Smart TV (or an older Samsung model), you have the native Steam Link app. Just install it and start it on the TV, and it will automatically search for a PC running Steam on your home network (you’ll need to have your PC on with Steam open and Remote Play enabled).

Once it finds and detects PCs with Steam on the network, it will only ask to confirm a code to link both devices, and you can start playing your Steam games directly on the TV.

If you have an Android TV mini PC or a simple Chromecast, the Steam Link app is also available and works the same way. However, in this case, you should sync or connect the controller to the Android TV instead of directly to the Smart TV.

The app is the same one that allows you to play Steam on an Android smartphone, so you shouldn’t have any configuration issues if you’ve already tried live streaming that way. However, being the same platform, it inherits the same problems.

Both Apple TV and iPhones also have a native app for Steam Link, which allows you to do exactly the same process as the previous cases.

In this case—which is also available for Android smartphones—we can even do without the controller, playing compatible Steam games directly on the mobile screen. However, from experience, we don’t recommend this because console game controls are designed for the use of analog sticks and triggers, which cannot be emulated on the capacitive screens of smartphones and tablets.

Our advice is to opt for one of those console-style smartphone controllers where the screen is placed in the middle, turning the phone into a handheld console. It will be much easier for you and will allow you to play your favorite PC games comfortably from anywhere in the house, even from bed. So, it will be almost the same experience as having a Steam Deck in your hands.