StreamChum Play

Play puts viewers in the game you are already running. You host on Windows. They open a link, pick a nickname, and use a virtual Xbox-style pad in the browser. They do not install a client or sign in. Read the Play overview for the pitch, and Play Tournaments if you want a knockout with a public bracket. This page is the setup.

1. Install the Play host for Windows from Downloads and the ViGEmBus virtual controller driver. Play Host can install that driver for you (Windows will ask for administrator permission).
2. Start the host, sign in, pick a display, and click Start session.
3. Share the join link in chat. Viewers enter a nickname. You seat P1 through P4 from Play Host or the Play page. Up to eight people can wait in the lobby.
4. The host captures the game with DXGI and sends video over WebRTC. Guest sticks and buttons come back as virtual controllers only.

• Guests cannot see your desktop, files, or keyboard. Input is sandboxed to the virtual pad.
• Typical latency on broadband is in the tens of milliseconds. Fighting games and platformers are in scope.
• Host needs Windows 10 or 11, a GPU, and roughly 10 Mbps upload. Play uses NVIDIA NVENC or AMD AMF when ffmpeg on PATH can encode that way, otherwise software.
• Tournaments live on the Play page after Play Host is paired, even when a session is not live. See Play Tournaments for the full pitch. Open the Tournaments tab, create a knockout (1v1 through 4v4, or custom) and share the player link. When you pick games you can search for a game, or open Looking for inspiration (player count, genre, and year, then Random Pick, Most Popular, or Most Recent) from the PC local-play catalog StreamChum keeps current daily from IGDB. Players connect Twitch for a name and avatar (no StreamChum account). Connecting Twitch on that page agrees to StreamChum Terms and Privacy. Open the event page from Play to see the bracket. Workspace owners, admins, and mods signed into StreamChum can run the event from that page: edit details, start, seat, pick winners, and cancel. Finished and cancelled events sit under Past; the public page is a static recap. Delete them there if you do not need it. Casual join links still use a nickname and no sign-in. Instant Play is the live invite, seats, and waiting room. Before Play Host is paired, Instant Play and Tournaments both show a download attract page plus ten recent couch co-op titles from that catalog in a slow scrolling row. Each one opens a Steam store search.