Many people who play console games want to admire every pixel they can see, so they purchase premium gaming TVs such as the Samsung S90F OLED. However, sometimes you need to share TVs. How do you play Xbox games when someone else is using the television to watch a football game? You turn your laptop into a makeshift monitor, and you don’t even need a dedicated gaming laptop to do it. There are two primary ways to play Xbox games on your laptop: you can either use a remote streaming setup or you can physically connect your console to the computer.
If you decide to stream your games, you only need the Xbox, your laptop, and an appropriate control method. However, you might experience audio and video lag. If you adamantly require snappy gameplay, you need to physically hook up the console to the laptop. This method requires an additional component: a video capture card. Why? While both consoles and computers have HDMI ports, laptops can only send audio and visual data, not receive them — which is admittedly great for adding additional displays to your setup.
You will also need a program that can decipher the signals your Xbox sends. Many gamers swear by OBS Studio as it’s robust, free, and easy to use. Before you pick a method, you should also take compatibility into account. Streaming only works for the Xbox One and Series X/S, so if you want to play Xbox 360 games with a laptop, you will need a capture card.
You can also remotely play on your Xbox
Thanks to advances in streaming technology, you don’t actually need to be in the same room as your Xbox to play its games. You do, however, need the correct apps, a solid internet connection, and an appropriate control setup. If you don’t want to spend additional money, stream the games from your console. To get started:
- Select the “Settings” icon (the gear at the top of the screen).
- Choose “Devices and connections.”
- Then select “Remote features.” You might need to input your password.
- Toggle “Enable remote features.”
- Return to the Settings menu, and in the “General” tab, select “Power options.”
- Ensure “Sleep” is enabled.
Once that’s done, go to the website xbox.com/remoteplay, select “Remote Play” from the dropdown menu, and click on your console. Another option is to open the Xbox app on your computer, select the “Consoles” icon (next to the bell-shaped “Notification” icon), and click on your console to connect. And don’t forget to sync your controller to the computer.
Alternatively, if you have any level of an Xbox Game Pass subscription, you can just stream games. Visit https://www.xbox.com/en-us/play, pick “Cloud Gaming,” then click on the game you want to play. Or you can open the Xbox app, select “Cloud Gaming,” click on a game, and select “Play with Cloud.” While some titles can use a mouse and keyboard, most require a controller, so double-check which games need what. The Xbox app lists all keyboard and mouse-compatible titles in the “Play with mouse and keyboard” category in the “Cloud Gaming” tab.
How to play Xbox games with a capture card
Using a capture card to play your old Xbox through a laptop is a bit old school, as it was how gamers recorded footage to post on YouTube in the early aughts. To get started, plug the Xbox’s HDMI cable into the capture card, then insert its USB cable into the laptop. Match the USB types for the best video resolution and performance. For instance, if your capture card has a USB 3.0 cord, plug it into your laptop’s USB 3.0 slot if it has one — you can determine this by looking at the colors inside the ports.
After you’ve hooked up everything, turn on the console and open OBS Studio. In OBS:
- Create a new scene by clicking the “Plus” icon under “Scenes.”
- Give it any name you want.
- Press “OK.”
- Under “Sources,” click on the “Plus” icon.
- Select “Video Capture Device.”
- Customize the name and press “OK.” A properties window will pop up.
- Change the “Device” to “USB Video” (or the name of the capture card if the program recognizes it).
- Press “OK.”
To make sure you can hear the audio, click the button with three vertical dots under “Video Capture Device” (or whatever you named it) in the “Audio Mixer” tab, select “Advanced Audio Properties,” and then change its “Audio Monitoring” to “Monitor and Output.”
Once you’re set up, you can start playing Xbox games. Right-click on the preview screen and select “Fullscreen Projector (Preview).” You might have to select a resolution, but once that’s finished, the gameplay should take up your entire screen.
