Moonlight Game Streaming

Moonlight Game Streaming lets you play the games on your NVIDIA-powered PC directly on your Android phone, tablet, or even another computer by streaming the video and audio from your desktop. It suits PC gamers who already own a capable gaming rig and want to enjoy their existing library on different screens at home or remotely.

How the streaming works

Moonlight is built on an open source implementation of the NVIDIA GameStream protocol. Your gaming PC renders the game, then Moonlight sends the live video feed to your Android device while relaying your input back to the computer.

As long as the host machine has a compatible NVIDIA graphics card with GameStream support enabled, Moonlight can present your PC titles on other devices, including Steam games. This turns your phone or tablet into a portable display for your main gaming setup.

Moonlight works both on your home network and over the internet. On a fast local connection, the delay is very low and generally feels close to playing directly on the PC. When you connect from outside your home, there can be a small but noticeable delay, which is usually fine for slower paced or casual games but not ideal for highly competitive play.

Image quality and performance

A key strength of Moonlight is its focus on visual quality and responsiveness. The app supports 4K resolution, HDR, and refresh rates up to 120 FPS, provided your PC and display can handle those modes.

For the video stream itself, Moonlight can use bitrates of up to 150 Mbps, which allows for a crisp and detailed image. To take advantage of this, a strong network connection is recommended. A wired Ethernet connection on the host and client delivers the most consistent results, while Wi-Fi works best when the device is close to the router.

On smartphones, Wi-Fi tends to be sufficient because the lower screen resolution and smaller display size hide much of the compression. The app can use more aggressive video compression on these screens, and artifacts are usually hard to notice during normal play.

Controls and device flexibility

Moonlight offers several control methods so you can choose what fits each game. You can rely on touch controls directly on the screen, which can work for slower or simpler titles. For a more console-like feel, you can connect a game controller, which the app supports as an input method.

If you prefer the traditional PC experience, Moonlight also works with a keyboard and mouse. In that case, your Android device behaves almost like a compact PC monitor while you keep familiar controls.

Since the client is not limited to phones and tablets, you can also stream to other computers, letting you reuse older or less powerful machines as gaming terminals for your main PC.

Home use vs remote play

Moonlight is at its best on a local network, where latency is very low and input feels responsive, even for action-heavy games. In this scenario, your PC can stay in one room while you play comfortably in another, with performance that is typically close to a direct connection.

When you connect from outside your home, the experience depends much more on your internet connection quality on both ends. The app can still provide a playable experience, but the added delay is more noticeable. For turn-based or casual titles this is usually acceptable, while fast competitive games can feel less precise.

Who will benefit most

Moonlight Game Streaming is a strong choice for NVIDIA PC gamers who want to extend their existing gaming setup to Android devices without buying a separate console or handheld. If you have a solid home network and like the idea of playing your regular PC games on the couch, in bed, or away from your desk, it offers a lot of flexibility with impressive image quality.