Steam makes its AR debut on Nreal Light glasses

Cloud gaming on Nreal Light AR glasses
(Image credit: Nreal)

What you need to know

  • PC gamers can now stream their Steam games right to a pair of Nreal Light smart glasses.
  • The first beta of Steam on Nreal is now available but requires a bit of setup to get it working.
  • Nreal has a list of games that work well with Steam on Nreal Light and promise wider compatibility in the future.

Couch gaming is about to get a whole lot better thanks to the imminent release of Steam on Nreal, a new streaming app that brings your Steam library to your Nreal Light AR glasses. The company is launching the new app to commemorate its first hackathon event, AR Jam, which takes place on June 27 and includes $100,000 in cash prizes.

Steam on Nreal likely works similarly to the existing Steam streaming engine that powers Valve's own Steam Remote Play and hardware products like Steam Link. Players who install Steam on Nreal and link their gaming PCs will be able to play games on Nreal Light's virtual 200-inch screen. At launch, Nreal says it only supports a few popular games like the entire Halo series and DiRT Rally, but future updates to Steam on Nreal will include wider compatibility with the full Steam library.

Nreal Light is a great pair of AR glasses that already provides the ability to stream games through other cloud gaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming. Since Nreal Light streams data from your smartphone, you'll now have the ability to have a comfortable couch-like gaming experience so long as your phone has internet access.

More AR apps are expected to come out of Nreal's first hackathon, AR Jam, sometime after June 27. Develoment contest categories include at-home fitness, art, games, and video entertainment, with bonus categories in multiplayer and social networking. Winners could take home up to $10,000 for the grand prize, and honorable mentions get Nreal Light Dev Kits for free. Check out the Nreal website for more details.

Nreal AR Jam competition

(Image credit: Nreal)
Nicholas Sutrich
Senior Content Producer — Smartphones & VR
Nick started with DOS and NES and uses those fond memories of floppy disks and cartridges to fuel his opinions on modern tech. Whether it's VR, smart home gadgets, or something else that beeps and boops, he's been writing about it since 2011. Reach him on Twitter or Instagram @Gwanatu