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Steam Cloud Gaming confirmed with Steam Cloud Play

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According to new Steam documents, Valve will be launching Steam Cloud Gaming soon with a Beta of Steam Cloud Play.

It will require developers to opt in, and they're required to support Cloud Saves (or another online save method), otherwise gamers will lose their data. Developers will continue to be paid the same way, since users still need to buy the games on Steam.

Before you get too excited though, the documents say the first service connecting with it will be NVIDIA GeForce NOW. For Linux gamers then, it means next to nothing since NVIDIA have been silent on any plans for Linux support with it. However, it's clearly early on and Valve are still building features and adding to their server capacity.

In the FAQ it does state this:

Will there be other cloud gaming services added to Steam Cloud Play?

We may add additional Steam Cloud Gaming services in the future. At that time we would reach out to you to opt your games into the new service.

Quite disappointing for us here of course. We're still somewhat expecting once Valve has tested the waters with this, and built up all the mechanics around Steam to support all of it, that they would launch their own. Don't think Valve would stay reliant on an external service for too long. The curious part is in the "How to sign up" part, which mentions how developers opting into Steam Cloud Gaming will have it "hosted by Valve" with service providers (like NVIDIA) being the additional. So that perhaps lends some credit towards a Valve service.

If we hear any more on it and / or they announced something that works with Linux, we will let you know.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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36 comments
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kuhpunkt May 28, 2020
Quoting: lesssterWhat's the point of Cloud Gaming if you still need a specific OS (Windows) to be able to use it?

Hmm?
CatKiller May 28, 2020
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Quoting: Nevertheless
Quoting: drlambHowever unlikely I'd die if Google (Stadia) and Valve formed a partnership.

Horrible idea! :O

Google getting bored of Stadia and Valve taking the infrastructure, and stable of Linux-native games, off their hands at a knock-down price to make available through Steam wouldn't be a terrible outcome, though.
gradyvuckovic May 28, 2020
Quoting: kuhpunkt
Quoting: tmtvl
Quoting: PatolaI wonder if we will eventually be able to get VR through streaming, since Valve is so invested on it now?

For VR to be bearable for the average person they need a high framerate (I forget what the minimum comfortable level was), but trying to stream, say, 144FPS with current infrastructure is hard to achieve. It's an interesting technical challenge that may require creating of a new data transfer protocol, various new types of hardware,...

The FPS aren't the problem, but the input delay, If the image is processed at a server far away it needs to reach your home without any delay. If you add just 10ms to what's already there, it might cause problems.

This isn't actually entirely unsolvable..

It can be solved with streaming, but you just need to stream more than just the raw image that's going to the headset.

You'd need to stream a 360 degree image instead. It would need to be a large resolution to compensate of course. As a performance optimisation however, you could broadcast the video with varying pixel density resolution. And put the most pixel density in the direction the user is looking, and gradually taper off the pixel density to a lower level for the parts of the image behind the user.

To make it really work well, you'd need to also stream a depth buffer stream as well. Using that, you could reproject the 360 degree video stream, to adjust for the user's local current headset rotation and position.

This could actually result in LESS latency than current VR, because the local machine wouldn't need to do any complex rendering of a large environment, just reprojecting an image.

Unfortunately it would do nothing for the latency between moving your hands and the virtual hands moving. But with the depth image of the 360 degree image, you could just render the hands separately and mix it with the video stream. You can do that when you got a depth buffer. It's just like the old PS1 games with their prerendered backgrounds.

There's ways in theory to make VR work via game streaming.


Last edited by gradyvuckovic on 28 May 2020 at 11:24 pm UTC
Mal May 28, 2020
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Quoting: The_Aquabatjust meh another service for the northern hemisphere and other few countries.

Well... If anything services like these creates demand for this kind of infrastructure and eventually make it happen. I'm born (not live there anymore but I maintain connections) in one of the richest provinces in the world as avg income, in the heart of Europe. But it's a mountainous territory and the people is backward in many ways. The home Internet service level for households there is on par with remote territories of the Southern hemisphere as you would put it. Yet people don't complain much (4G is enough for casual usages). When talking with politicians, even of my age, I've always been dismissed as a guy fixated with unreasonable things (thing is industries and institutions have access to Corea level fiber infrastructure, the household access restriction is purely a political built up thing. The backbone is there and is even County owned).
Stuff like Netflix, stadia and (now) covid is helping making people open the eyes into the big opportunity and investment that are Telcom infrastructures. Any new addition is welcome. People is finally asking for fast internet in addition to money for tangible things like farming or roads. You don't urge the world to move by crippling the vanguards.


Last edited by Mal on 28 May 2020 at 2:10 pm UTC
Mohandevir May 28, 2020
Not that much hyped by that announcement. Let's hope it's only the first step. Wake me up when Valve put forward it's own infrastructure and streaming service.


Last edited by Mohandevir on 28 May 2020 at 2:53 pm UTC
Koopacabras May 28, 2020
Quoting: Mal
Quoting: The_Aquabatjust meh another service for the northern hemisphere and other few countries.

Well... If anything services like these creates demand for this kind of infrastructure and eventually make it happen. I'm born (not live there anymore but I maintain connections) in one of the richest provinces in the world as avg income, in the heart of Europe. But it's a mountainous territory and the people is backward in many ways. The home Internet service level for households there is on par with remote territories of the Southern hemisphere as you would put it. Yet people don't complain much (4G is enough for casual usages). When talking with politicians, even of my age, I've always been dismissed as a guy fixated with unreasonable things (thing is industries and institutions have access to Corea level fiber infrastructure, the household access restriction is purely a political built up thing. The backbone is there and is even County owned).
Stuff like Netflix, stadia and (now) covid is helping making people open the eyes into the big opportunity and investment that are Telcom infrastructures. Any new addition is welcome. People is finally asking for fast internet in addition to money for tangible things like farming or roads. You don't urge the world to move by crippling the vanguards.

there is (was) cloud gaming here so it is technically possible, probably the problem is that it doesn't generate enough revenue. There was a cloud gaming from Time Warner. You have a missconception about latin america, maybe? Big cities, like Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires, Mexico DF, have top notch technology, so in those cities it's totally possible. There is Fiber in center town of my city, it's about to arrive here (I live in the outskirts of buenos aires). I think there is a missperception about Latin America... yes it's true that there is lots of poverty and some slums , but it's also true that there is also a lot of progress, after all those countries are called "emerging markets" and ie Poland, China or Taiwan also enter in that category .


Last edited by Koopacabras on 28 May 2020 at 3:01 pm UTC
Linuxwarper May 28, 2020
I'm hoping whatever Valve is cooking with Steam Cloud will be a improved Remote Play. That is what I will be using. I don't think Geforce Now will be only stream service with Steam Cloud. I won't be using Geforce Now nor Stadia.


Last edited by Linuxwarper on 28 May 2020 at 3:15 pm UTC
kokoko3k May 28, 2020
I think they are a bit late versus stadia, so by now it is Geforce Now only.
Steam has the software and everything needed to provide cloud gaming, maybe they just need more time.
Nevertheless May 28, 2020
Quoting: CatKiller
Quoting: Nevertheless
Quoting: drlambHowever unlikely I'd die if Google (Stadia) and Valve formed a partnership.

Horrible idea! :O

Google getting bored of Stadia and Valve taking the infrastructure, and stable of Linux-native games, off their hands at a knock-down price to make available through Steam wouldn't be a terrible outcome, though.

That must be utopia! :)
Mezron May 28, 2020
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Quoting: NarcotixI am reading this so often lately. But did you already look up how many games on Steam you DO own?
There's quite a huge list of DRM-free games on Steam. https://steam.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_DRM-free_games
Also quite some big titles on this list.
The worrying part about the perception getting spreaded about Steam game ownership is, that people might think that they don't lose anything with cloud gaming, since they already don't own any games anymore (which isn't true as you can see - especially with GoG ofc). But there actually is a loss of ownership when comparing cloud gaming to Steam.
If you might be fine with not owning games is another topic and not the one I intend to discuss in this post.

You make a great point and as a long time DRM-FREE gamer that recently got into Steam and now Stadia, I have to say that keeping my library of games working throughout the years has been a chore that I would like to avoid going forward. As a working father/grandfather with kids spread out across the US, Steam and now Stadia have made it very easy for me to connect and play with my loved ones that are not in my own home.

We still rock a good amount of DRM-FREE titles from GOG, direct from devs, freeware, itch.io, Desura (defunct), Humble Bundle and more but as time has moved forward and devs have abandoned those games and modding communities around those games shrinking or becoming vapor I've had to change my gaming diet to better stay connected with those that I love. Out of the 32 games I own on Steam 3 are not DRM-FREE. None of them work for online MP without Steam unless I use Parsec (which requires a Windows Host).

I don't see many from this generation going all in Cloud gaming and I'm still going to be getting my first first from GOG then Steam and then Stadia or bust...but I can see ppl walking away from all the other ways of gaming over time if the ease of use is not better advocated for. Shoutout to Puppy Games who does DRM-FREE the right way. Everything you need is self-contained and ready to roll.
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