The Steam Deck was a pretty groundbreaking leap forward for handheld gaming, showing the potential of a console on the go that had a little more ambition than traditional pocket handhelds of times gone by.
Since then, a ton of other competitors have entered the market and it's no longer the device of choice for those who are looking for a more premium gaming experience, and the opportunity to run the latest AAA titles.
That said, it remains extremely popular and it's a great device if you're looking to play indie releases or many of the games that are native to the Steam storefront.
Valve are also continuing to provide regular updates for their machines as well as new releases, but one change in particular has seen it take on arguably the best feature of the PlayStation Portal, and it has been created by someone unconnected to the company.
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Steam Deck Gets Genius PlayStation Portal Feature, But There Is An Unfortunate Caveat
As first confirmed by NotebookCheck.com, a new Steam app has just been made available for the Deck that streams owned PS5 games directly from the cloud, without the need for a PS5 console to be on and in the vicinity.
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PSStream has begun drawing attention in recent weeks, with the developer claiming that it “delivers high-quality, low-latency PS console and cloud streaming on PC, Steam Deck, and Linux.”
It does so in quality up to 1080p (which you wouldn’t want more of on the Steam Deck anyway) and in 60 FPS, something which you’d normally need two bit of official Sony hardware to make it a reality.
As this is absolutely coming from an unverified third-party, you’ll want to be careful about using it until we know more about who’s in charge of the operation and what their security is like.
You’ll have to give them full access to your PlayStation account to make it work and that comes with its own obvious risks that you should be aware of heading in.
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Whilst it is obvious a brilliant bit of innovation that should work really well for those of us who like to play games across multiple platforms, the future is pretty grey, particularly considering how popular the app has become in recent weeks.
Sony aren’t known for resting on their laurels when it comes to this kind of thing, so don't be surprised if things get litigious quite quickly.
Topics: Steam Deck