What if you could get one of the PlayStation Portal’s headline features for free, on hardware you already own, without touching a PlayStation console? That’s now possible on Steam Deck and Steam Machine — at least in playtest — through a third-party app called Asobi: Remote Play.
The app opened its public Steam Playtest this week for Steam Deck, Steam Machine, and other SteamOS and Linux devices. Its headline feature is PlayStation Plus cloud streaming with no PS5 required — a meaningful step beyond what Steam Deck users could previously do, which was limited to streaming from a console they already owned in their home network.
What Asobi Actually Does
Asobi: Remote Play does two distinct things. The first is standard remote play — streaming games from your own PS4 or PS5 over your home network, which is territory already covered by apps like Chiaki4Deck. The second is the new addition: PS Plus Premium cloud streaming. With an active PS Plus Premium subscription, you can stream supported games directly from Sony’s servers. No console needs to be switched on. No console needs to exist in your home at all.
Game availability depends on Sony’s cloud catalogue, your PSN account and your region. Not every owned PS5 title is eligible — only specific digital games qualify, alongside the broader PS Plus library. The service covers over 30 countries across North America, Europe and Japan.
Playtest specs (unlocked free): 1080p at 60fps · HDR · 4K upscaling · controller haptics · manual bitrate control (up to 100 Mbps) · low-latency modes. Free tier after release: 1080p at 30fps.
What the Playtest Unlocks Right Now
During the playtest period, all premium features are available at no cost. Developer Ichenzo confirmed this in the announcement: “All premium features are unlocked until the full release becomes available on the Steam Store.” That means 1080p at 60fps, HDR, upscaling to 4K, controller haptics and manual bitrate control are all accessible to anyone who gets a playtest invite — without paying anything beyond their PS Plus Premium subscription.
Why This Matters for PS Portal Owners — and Non-Owners
Sony’s PlayStation Portal retails for £220 in the UK. It offers exactly the same PS Plus cloud streaming capability that Asobi now brings to Steam Deck. The difference is the price of entry: if you already own a Steam Deck, the Asobi app is free-to-play at its base tier, and a PS Plus Premium subscription is the only running cost. Sony has no official affiliation with the app, and Asobi’s developers have made clear it is a third-party tool — but the functionality is built on the same Sony cloud infrastructure.
Asobi’s supported game catalogue includes titles such as Astro Bot, Borderlands 4, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Fortnite, Ghost of Yōtei, Grand Theft Auto V and Resident Evil 4. A Windows version of the app is in development, with the developer describing it as coming “soonish” — meaning the same capability should eventually reach any PC rather than staying limited to Linux and SteamOS.
How to Get Access
Playtest invites are rolling out by email to everyone who signed up through the Steam store page, with Ichenzo noting there are a lot of signups and asking players to allow some time for invites to arrive. Standard remote play — streaming from your own console — works without PS Plus Premium and is available at no charge regardless of tier. The existing Chiaki4Deck app continues to work for local console streaming as well, so players already using that setup have nothing to change.
