A new cloud-streaming app that lets players stream PlayStation games to their Steam Deck and Steam Machine without a PS5 has just opened a playtest.
Asobi: Remote Play – not to be confused with the developers of the same name – has just entered public testing on Steam Deck, Steam Machine, and other SteamOS or Linux devices.
Streaming your own PS4 or PS5 to a Deck over your home network isn’t new; Asobi and similar apps have supported that for a while, well before the PS Portal even existed. But as spotted by VideoCardz, what’s new here is PS Plus Premium cloud streaming specifically. With an active subscription, you can now pull games straight from the cloud catalogue onto a Deck or Steam Machine without a PS5 anywhere in the equation, which is a genuine step up from what Steam Deck owners have been able to do until now.
That older function – streaming from a console you actually own – still works exactly as before, subscription or not, for anyone without PS Plus Premium.
Developer Ichenzo announced the playtest on the app’s subreddit.
“Good news everyone! The PlayTest for Asobi: Remote Play on Steam Deck, Steam Machine, and Linux is live now,” Ichenzo wrote. “All premium features are unlocked until the full release becomes available on the Steam Store. Cloud gaming will require a PSN account with an active PS Plus Premium Subscription. Invites are going out by email to everyone who signed up. There are a lot of you, so give it a little time.”
All of that premium tier – 60fps, HDR, controller haptics, 4K upscaling, manual bitrate control – is unlocked for free for the length of the playtest. Once it ends, the free version drops back to a 1080p/30fps ceiling, with pricing for the full premium unlock still unannounced. There’s no need to back out to desktop mode or run anything outside Steam to get it working, either.
A Windows version is planned but not yet live; Ichenzo described it as coming “soonish”.
Of course, Asobi isn’t a Sony product and has no official affiliation with PlayStation, Valve, or Steam. Furthermore, Sony itself sells the PS Portal, which similarly allows anyone to use cloud streaming via PlayStation Plus Premium – effectively meaning you can bypass needing a PS5 console in order to play the likes of Astro Bot, Borderlands 4, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Fortnite, Ghost of Yōtei, Grand Theft Auto V, Resident Evil 4, and many more.
The difference, of course, is that the PS Portal currently retails for £220.