When I first got an Android phone over 15 years ago (oh geez), I dreamed about using it to play the kinds of games I had on my PC at the time. Today, that dream is realized, albeit with some limitations. There are plenty of ways to play the very same games, or stream them to the screen in your pocket—and now Razer is offering another one.
Razer PC Remote Play is still marked as beta in the Razer Cortex omnibus application on my PC, and “beta” feels about right. It’s far from a tight, integrated package and feels more like a utilitarian remote access tool with some gaming features—most notably integration with Razer’s Kishi series of phone controller accessories—bolted on. The app can either stream your entire PC display (just one) or create a virtual window for a game (to optimize bandwidth), and it’ll automatically adjust to your phone’s resolution and refresh rate.
While you’ll need to be on the same local network as the host PC to initiate the connection, once you’ve set up the connection via your Razer account, it should be possible to play over a mobile connection… but I couldn’t manage it. The PC Remote Play app on my phone identified my host PC at home (right in front of me, but routed through miles of cell towers) but couldn’t establish a connection, let alone attempt streaming.
I get the feeling that most gamers who want to try this app will already have other ways of achieving the same thing, like Steam’s streaming system for going directly to a local PC or Nvidia’s GeForce Now for a more hands-off way of streaming the games you already own. I’m not overly enamored with Razer’s PC software to begin with—the fact that it’s probably the most reliable and stable of the dedicated “driver” programs for game accessories is an indictment on that entire software category, not exactly praise for Razer.
Unless you need direct integration with Razer mobile controllers, notably the Kishi Ultra’s impressive haptic feedback system, I don’t think you need to trouble yourself with setting it up on both PC and Android.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.