Steam Remote Play Together Not Working

Remote Play Together streams one player's game to friends. When it fails, it's almost always the same few settings.

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  1. Restart Steam / Epic / the console client — The overlay and friend-presence service occasionally desyncs, so invites never arrive. A client restart re-syncs it.
    • Fully quit Steam/Epic (system tray → Exit, don't just close the window).
    • Reopen and log back in.
    • On console, quit to dashboard and restart the app.
  2. Check and fix your NAT type — Strict NAT is the #1 cause of 'can't join friends'. You need Moderate or Open to host and to receive invites reliably.
    • On Steam: Settings → In-Game → check the 'NAT' indicator, or test via Steam's network settings.
    • On Xbox: Settings → General → Network settings → 'NAT type'.
    • On PlayStation: Settings → Network → View Connection Status → 'NAT Type'.
    • If Strict: enable UPnP and/or port-forward (see those fixes). Tether to a phone hotspot once to confirm — if it works there, the issue is your home router.
  3. Turn off VPN, proxy, and 'kill switch' tools — VPNs and routing tools reroute P2P traffic and trigger Strict NAT or total blocks. Disable them for the session.
    • Fully quit your VPN app (not just disconnect — quit it).
    • Disable any proxy in Windows Settings → Network → Proxy.
    • Temporarily uninstall 'kill switch' / firewall-overlay tools if the issue persists.
    • Retry the join with a direct connection.
  4. Allow the game through firewall & antivirus — Over-aggressive security software flags game executables as threats and drops the connection after join.
    • Windows: Allow the game .exe through Windows Defender Firewall (Private + Public).
    • Add the game and Steam/Epic to your antivirus allow-list.
    • On Mac: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Firewall → allow the game.
  5. Both sides need hardware acceleration on and the same Steam client version. A black screen usually means the host's GPU encoder is blocked — update GPU drivers.