Virtual PC and the Game Catalog

How the session works, installing your own games, file persistence, and in-PC controls.

By Help Dmitry

• 5 articles

The new Game Catalog — what changed and what to expect

When your virtual PC starts, you don't land on a Windows desktop — you land in the Game Catalog. That's a deliberate change. Click a game tile, the launcher opens, you sign in, you play. The plain desktop with a Start menu is hidden in this flow on purpose. This article explains what changed, why, and what you can still do. What you see on session start A grid of game tiles with search, genre filters, and sort options. Currently around 446 titles, curated. The tiles cover both Loudplay's pre-installed catalog and games available through Steam and Epic Games. The Catalog has two views: - Home — personalised: a Hero Banner at the top with featured titles that auto-rotates, plus shelves like recommendations and (if you've linked Steam) "Your Steam Library". - Browse — the full catalog with all filters and sort controls. Common controls: - Search. Real-time — type a few letters and matches narrow as you go. - Genre filters. Action, RPG, Strategy, etc. Stack multiple genres if you want a narrower list. - Sort. Trending, Rating, Release Date. - Game Details modal. Click a tile → modal opens with screenshots, description, similar-game suggestions, and a "Did You Know?" trivia block. Click Play in the modal to actually launch. Click a tile → the relevant launcher opens (Steam, Epic, sometimes Rockstar). You sign in to that launcher with your own account, then start the game from there. From the user's perspective the path is one click in the catalog, then one sign-in, then play. The Windows desktop, the Start menu, and the file explorer are still running underneath, but they aren't presented as the entry point anymore. You don't navigate Windows to find your game — you pick the game and Windows opens to that game. Loadings between Catalog views are quick — content streams in as you scroll, and skeleton placeholders appear while data loads. You don't usually wait on a loading spinner. Why we did this Most users never used the desktop. They opened the session, navigated through Windows, opened Steam, picked a game. Three steps where one was enough. The Catalog is also a better surface for discovery. With 446+ games available, a grid with search and filters is more useful than "open Steam and look in your library". And in practice, only games installed through Steam and Epic persist between sessions anyway (see "How long your installed games are kept"). The Windows desktop wasn't useful for installing arbitrary software you'd want to keep — it never persisted that. The Catalog flow simply makes the actual capability explicit. "I want to get to the Windows desktop" You can't, in the new flow — there's no exit-to-desktop button. This is by design. What you can do instead: - Want to launch a game that isn't a tile? Open Steam or Epic from inside the Catalog (they're available as launchers). Browse your library there, install what you need, play. - Want to change in-game settings? Do it inside the game or its launcher. The same settings menus you'd use on a normal PC. - Want to type a URL or open a webpage? The Catalog opens with a launcher; for general web browsing, open Steam's built-in browser, or — if a game launcher offers it — use that. Stand-alone browser sessions outside a game aren't part of the new flow. If you genuinely have a use case that requires the Windows desktop, write to support and tell us what it is. Decisions about the flow are based on what people actually need. On Android Same flow. The Catalog is your entry point. There's no separate desktop; there never was a meaningful one on Android because keyboard-and-mouse Windows navigation on a touchscreen is awkward. On Android, the floating Quick Menu button gives you access to streaming settings, session controls, and the close-session action. Long-press on the screen for context actions. The phone's system Back button works for closing overlays where applicable. There are no keyboard shortcuts on Android — it's a touch-first interface. What hasn't changed - Your Steam and Epic installations from previous sessions are still there. Click the game in the Catalog or open the launcher and they pick up where you left off. - Cloud saves work the same. Steam Cloud and Epic Cloud Saves continue to sync your progress. - Performance is the same — same hardware, same connection, same servers. Reporting a problem with the Catalog If a tile doesn't launch the right game, or a game is missing from the Catalog that you'd expect to see, write to help@loudplay.io. Include the game name and what you saw when you clicked the tile. We add titles based on user requests, so this is the way to get something added to the curated list.

Last updated on Apr 27, 2026

Installing your own games from Steam and Epic

You're not stuck with the Catalog. Any game you own on Steam or Epic Games can be installed inside the virtual PC, and those installations stay on the platform between sessions. The catch: only Steam and Epic. Other launchers and standalone installers don't persist — install them and they're gone after the session ends. Steam 1. From the Game Catalog, open the Steam tile (or any tile that launches Steam). 2. Sign in to your Steam account. 3. Open your library, find the game you want, click Install. 4. Wait for the download. Servers have gigabit internet, so a 50 GB game typically downloads in 5–10 minutes. 5. Launch the game. Done. Next session, the same game is already installed. Click its tile in the Catalog or launch from Steam — it picks up where you left off. ⚠️ Two-factor on Steam: if you've turned on Steam Guard with a mobile authenticator, keep your phone nearby for the sign-in. There's no way to sign in without the second factor. Epic Games 1. Open the Epic Games tile from the Catalog. 2. Sign in to your Epic account. 3. Library → click the game → Install. Epic downloads tend to be slightly slower than Steam at peak hours; this is on Epic's CDN, not on us. What about saves Enable cloud sync in the launcher you use: - Steam: Settings → Cloud → Enable Steam Cloud synchronization for applications which support it. Most modern games support it. - Epic: Settings → tick Cloud Saves. Without cloud sync, your save files live inside the virtual PC's filesystem. They survive as long as the install survives (see "How long your installed games are kept"), but if a game gets rotated out, local saves disappear with it. Cloud sync is the safety net. What about other launchers Battle.net, Ubisoft Connect, Rockstar Launcher, GOG Galaxy, EA App, and similar: you can install them and run them, but they don't persist between sessions. Two consequences: - Re-install every session. Annoying for a 3-hour package, painful for a 20-hour one. - Save files saved outside cloud sync are wiped with the launcher. For a game that uses one of these launchers (e.g. EA games run through EA App, Rockstar games through Rockstar Launcher), the practical recommendation is: if Steam has the same title, buy and play it on Steam. If it's exclusive to another launcher, factor in the re-install time when you start your session. What about random installers, portable apps, and downloads Downloaded .exe files, portable applications, mod tools, files you save to the desktop — none of this persists. The virtual PC's filesystem outside Steam and Epic install directories is wiped between sessions. If you need a tool every session, you'll need to install it every session, or look for a Steam/Epic alternative. What about torrents The virtual PC has a torrent client pre-installed and we don't restrict torrent downloads — you're responsible for what you download. The same persistence rule applies: anything outside Steam/Epic install directories is gone next session. Speed of game downloads | Connection on the server | Typical | |---------------------------|---------| | Download throughput | 1 Gbit/s (gigabit) | | 50 GB game | ~5–10 min | | 100 GB game | ~10–20 min | Your local internet doesn't affect download speed inside the VM — the download happens on the server. Your connection only affects the streaming of the picture and your input. Recommended workflow for serial visitors If you play several different games regularly: 1. Install all of them through Steam (or Epic) once. They persist. 2. Make sure cloud saves are on for each. 3. Next sessions, just play — no re-installs needed. The more often you play any given title, the longer it stays on the platform. Idle titles eventually rotate out — see the next article for the retention rules.

Last updated on Apr 27, 2026

How long your installed games are kept

Your Steam and Epic installations don't expire on a fixed schedule. They stick around for at least a few days from the last time you launched them, and the more you actually play a game, the longer we keep it ready. This article explains how the retention works in practice, and how to plan around it. The short version - Install through Steam or Epic → it persists. - Play it regularly → it stays available. - Don't touch it for a long time → eventually it gets rotated out to free space, and you'll need to reinstall. - Cloud saves protect your progress regardless. There is no exact "X days and it's gone" cutoff. The system favours games you play. Why retention is dynamic, not fixed Storage on the platform is shared across all users. If we kept every install forever, we'd run out of space and have to either expand storage indefinitely or aggressively delete everything older than a fixed window — both worse outcomes. Instead, the system tracks recency and frequency of launches. A game you've played four times this week stays. A game you installed six months ago and never opened gets rotated out earlier when space pressure builds. The minimum we promise: at least a few days from the last launch. The maximum is open-ended — actively played games stay essentially indefinitely. What this looks like in practice You play Cyberpunk 2077 every weekend → it's always there when you open the Catalog. Zero reinstall time, you just hit play. You install a game once for a single playthrough, finish it, never come back → that game will sit on the platform for several days, then get rotated out. Next time you want it, you reinstall. You install ten games during one binge weekend, then play just one of them regularly → the one you keep playing stays. The other nine get rotated out within a week or two of inactivity. Cloud saves are the safety net When a game does get rotated out, your local save files in Documents\My Games\... or wherever the game stores them go with it. If you have Steam Cloud or Epic Cloud Saves enabled, your progress is safe. Reinstall the game later, sign in, the cloud syncs your saves down, you're back where you left off. If you don't have cloud saves on, you lose progress when the install is rotated out. Most modern games support cloud saves — turn them on. ⚠️ Some single-player titles don't support cloud saves: classic and indie games sometimes don't. Check the Steam store page for "Steam Cloud" in the features list. If it's missing, the game's saves are local-only and won't survive a rotation. How to keep an install alive Just play it. A real launch — not just opening Steam — counts as activity. Even a short session every few days is enough to keep a title from being rotated out. You don't need to manually pin or favourite a game. The system observes your usage automatically. "I came back after a month and my game is gone" That's the rotation working as designed. Your game wasn't deleted, it was uninstalled to free space. To get it back: 1. Open the Catalog or open Steam/Epic from inside it. 2. Find the game and click Install. 3. Wait for the download (5–10 minutes for a typical AAA title on our gigabit connection). 4. If you had cloud saves on, your progress is restored automatically when you launch. This is the same as buying a new PC and downloading your library — except much faster, because the bandwidth is on the server. "Can I get more retention by paying more?" No. Retention isn't a product tier. The same rules apply to all users — frequent players keep more games, infrequent players keep fewer. If you have a use case where this becomes a real problem, write to help@loudplay.io with details. The current rules cover essentially everyone, but we listen to specific edge cases. What about games installed through other launchers Anything outside Steam and Epic — Battle.net, Rockstar Launcher, Epic Games Store sideloads, etc. — does not persist at all. Those go away every session, retention rules don't apply to them. For details, see "Installing your own games from Steam and Epic".

Last updated on Apr 27, 2026

Keyboard layout inside the virtual PC

If your virtual PC is typing the wrong characters — @ instead of ", the wrong letters when you try to type your password, slash characters that look right on your keyboard but produce something else in the game — the layout inside the VM doesn't match the layout on your physical keyboard. The fix is one shortcut. This applies to Desktop only. Android doesn't have this problem because there's no keyboard layout to mismatch. The fix Inside the virtual PC, press one of: - Win + Space — opens a small pop-up with available layouts. Click the one you want. - Alt + Shift — cycles through installed layouts. Press until the indicator in the taskbar shows the layout you want. The layout indicator is in the bottom-right of the Windows taskbar — usually ENG, RUS, DEU, etc. Use it to confirm the active layout. Why this happens Your physical keyboard has a fixed layout, decided by your local OS. When you stream to the virtual PC, the streaming protocol sends key codes, not characters. The virtual PC's Windows then interprets those key codes through whichever layout it has selected. If the virtual PC is on US English (the default) and your physical keyboard uses a different layout — UK, German, French, Spanish, or any other non-US layout — the codes mismatch and you get wrong characters. The fix is to switch the virtual PC's layout to match your physical keyboard. Adding a layout that isn't installed If Alt + Shift doesn't include the layout you need: 1. Open Windows Settings inside the virtual PC (the launcher inside the Catalog has a Steam web browser, or use any in-game settings dialog that calls Windows). On a generic PC: Settings → Time & language → Language & region. 2. Add the language you want, then choose its keyboard layout. 3. Alt + Shift now cycles through it. In the new Game Catalog flow, you don't directly browse the Windows desktop, so the fastest way to do this is rare — usually Win + Space already shows what's available, and Win + Space is the primary tool for layout switching going forward. Regional symbol issues Quotes (", '), backslash (\), at sign (@), pipe (|), and tilde (~) sit in different positions on different keyboards. If only specific symbols are wrong while letters are correct, the layouts are close but not identical — usually US vs UK, or US vs European variants. Switch layouts with Win + Space until the symbols you need are in the right places. There isn't a per-symbol remap. When typing passwords Login screens often hide what you type. If you can't sign in to Steam, Epic, or any other launcher and you're sure the password is right, layout mismatch is the most likely cause. Open Notepad first (from a Steam web tool or any text input that shows characters), type your password into Notepad to see what's actually being entered, fix the layout, then go back to the login screen. This also applies to game accounts inside games — Rockstar accounts, Origin accounts, anywhere a password isn't shown. Saving the layout choice The virtual PC keeps your layout selection between sessions, the same way it keeps Steam/Epic installs. After you set it once, future sessions usually start with the right layout already active. If the layout resets every session, that's a bug — write to help@loudplay.io with the date and time of the session and what layout you'd selected. We'll look at the session record. On Android There's no keyboard layout setting inside the VM that you'd interact with from a phone. If you connect a Bluetooth keyboard to your Android device for typing, the same Win + Space shortcut works — the virtual PC sees the Bluetooth keyboard's keypresses and treats them like any other keyboard.

Last updated on Apr 27, 2026

Linking your Steam account

Link your Steam account to Loudplay and the Catalog will show you which games from your Steam library are available to play here. The link is read-only — we import your owned-game list, nothing else. This is separate from installing Steam games (covered in "Installing your own games from Steam and Epic"). Linking shows you what's available; installing is what you do once you decide to play. How to link 1. In the desktop launcher, open Account → look for the Steam integration card. 2. Click Connect Steam. A browser tab opens to Steam's standard sign-in. 3. Sign in to your Steam account, approve the connection. 4. Back in the launcher, the card shows Connected, and a sync starts. After the sync completes, your Catalog gets a new shelf — Your Steam Library — listing games you own on Steam that are also available on Loudplay. Sync, refresh, unlink - Sync. If you bought new Steam games after linking and want them to appear, hit Sync on the integration card. Steam rate-limits us, so don't rapid-fire — once a day is plenty. - Status. The card shows last sync time and sync status (Success, Pending, Error). - Unlink. Click Unlink to remove the connection. Your Steam Library shelf disappears from the Catalog. Your Steam account isn't affected — only the connection from our side. Common errors Private Profile. Steam allows users to hide their game library. If yours is set to private, the import fails and we can't see what you own. To fix: 1. Open Steam in a browser → your profile → Edit Profile → Privacy Settings. 2. Set Game details to Public. 3. Back in the Loudplay launcher, hit Sync on the Steam integration card. You can switch the privacy back to Private after the import — the data we have is a snapshot. But every subsequent sync will need it to be Public again. Rate limit. Steam throttles us if too many users sync at the same time. The card shows "Rate Limit" — wait an hour and try Sync again. Nothing's broken, it's normal Steam API behaviour. Stale library. If a game you bought on Steam isn't showing up after a fresh sync, two reasons are likely: (1) the game isn't available on Loudplay (we only show titles that work here), or (2) Steam hasn't yet acknowledged the purchase to its API — wait 5–10 minutes after the Steam purchase and sync again. What linking does NOT do - It doesn't give Loudplay access to play games on your behalf, post to your Steam profile, or read your friends list. - It doesn't import save files or game settings — only the list of games you own. - It doesn't reveal your password — Steam's standard OAuth is used, we never see your credentials. - It doesn't unlink automatically. If you change your Steam password or revoke the integration from Steam's side, the next Sync will fail; you'll need to Connect again. When linking is useful - You own dozens of games on Steam, can't remember which ones run on Loudplay → the Steam Library shelf filters that for you. - You want a fast jump-off point in the Catalog: click a Steam-library game, the Steam launcher opens, sign in, play. - You want to know if a game you're considering buying on Steam will work on Loudplay — search the Catalog first, then buy on Steam if it shows up.

Last updated on Apr 27, 2026