You can now play CSGO on your mobile device using Steam Link

Thanks to the Steam Link, an app that brings PC games to smart phones and mobile devices, players can now theoretically run Counter-Strike: Global Offensive wherever they are while on the go. But there are a few important caveats to consider.

Can CSGO be played on mobile?

CSGO doesn’t have an official mobile version. However, Steam Link allows players to play any game they own on Steam to then play on their phones or tablets. The app streams content from the PC to a mobile device, giving the gameplay motion and touch screen controls, with the added option of using a traditonal gaming controller.

Therefore, anyone who owns CSGO and can run it on their PC will also be able to run the game through Steam Link, just as they would any other Steam game, as long as they stay within the same network as the PC currently running that game. Whatever the PC screen shows will be shown on the mobile screen too.

Is CSGO really playable with Steam Link?

Although players can turn on and start the game with their mobile devices, CSGO is far from playable over Steam Link as it meets with a number of issues.

First, delays and frame drops are inevitable, meaning players cannot immediately react to the gameplay on screen. The screen will sometimes freeze for several seconds before play can resume. Given that CSGO is a first-person-shooter that requires high levels of precision, playing such a game over touch and motion controls or even with a joystick simply won’t give a player the accuracy necessary to play CSGO.

As a matter of fact, the accuracy on a mobile device is almost nonexistent.

If a player was to enter a competitive match while using a mobile device, their teammates would likely soon start raging because of the inability to properly aim and follow with what’s happening on the map.

Steam Link might have the potential to run games that suit touchscreen controls and have easier technical requirements, such as simple RPGs or digital board games, but CSGO is a different beast entirely. The low quality of the game stream through the Link app likely won’t give players any incentive to play it mobile, especially since they need to stay close to their PC regardless.

As Steam continues to improve the app and as mobile devices get better in their specifications, gameplay quality might alose improve, but the precision of keyboard and mouse still may not translate well to the smaller, touch-based screen.