How to play PlayStation 5 games on the Apple TV?

How to play PlayStation 5 games on the Apple TV?
Photo by Federico Vitale / Unsplash

For this to work, you need:

In my case, both the Playstation 5 and Apple TV are connected to the same network via ethernet. Essentially, I am utilising the Remote Play feature on my Playstation 5 (in my living room) to play games to my Apple TV (in my bedroom).

Step 1: Ensure your Playstation 5 is logged into your PSN account

Step 2: Enable Remote Play feature on PS5. On your Playstation 5; navigate to Settings - System - Remote Play and activate "Enable Remote Play". Then go to Link Device where you should see the 8 digit registration number.

Step 3: Open MirrorPlay app on your Apple TV and select Register PS and enter the 8 digit registration number provided by your Playstation 5.

Step 4: a QR code will be provided on screen which you can use to open a webpage on your mobile or computer. This is the official Sony account webpage where you have to log into your PSN account which is signed into your Playstation 5. Follow any on-screen instructions on the Apple TV. The MirrorPlay app does an impressive job of explaining the process, even on the Apple TV.

Step 5: start playing games :)

Should you experience any issues with the above, refer to the guide on the developer’s website.

What's the experience like?

Well, glad you asked. It's one thing to be able to do something, it's the other if it's actually worth doing it. At this point, it’s important to note that my Apple TV is connected to a 65 inch LG 4K OLED TV. Remote Play is limited to 1080p streaming only. To be completely honest, AAA PS5 titles do not look good, and that makes sense before it’s only at 1080p. Indie titles or older games are fine. Streets of Rage 4 worked really well and looked surprisingly good as well. These games are less bad, but still far from the native gaming experience the PS5 provides. Now, if you have an older TV, you might not notice as such. Unfortunately, my ass is spoilt and I pick up on these things relatively quickly.

The other issue is lag. Impressively, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be, but it’s noticeable and that hurts (blessed are you if you cannot notice it, or you don’t care). Now, I am not playing online games (such as Fortnight) that require zero lag, but I notice it. Although, it tends to disappear after I am distracted by the game. Most times, I am playing story-based games such as Horizon Zero Dawn, Spider-Man, Uncharted (etc). I dislike playing aimlessly. The story should be gripping, and the game has to be beautiful. How fussy am I? I suppose, I am an adult and adults can be fussy, even mere civilians like me.

Premium and/or Pro features:

Before upgrading, I recommend testing out the gameplay. That is what I did. The following is locked behind a paywall.

  • Button mapping of the controller. This is more relevant if you are not using a Playstation controller.
  • full-screen streaming support: this doesn’t apply to Apple TV but useful on iPad and iPhone. Did I mention, the Pro upgrade unlocks features on all Apple platforms.
  • manual bitrate adjustment
  • vibration emulation support with device motor

Even after upgrading, I am not sure the upgrade is necessary. Having said that, the developer does make the experience of Remote Play on Apple devices as smooth and effortless as possible. For this reason, I wanted to support the developer. It was a onetime purchase of AUD9.99.

There is also a thriving Reddit community behind this app.

Why?

I am attempting to play more video games in my adult life. It’s just something I want to do. My living room, where the Playstation 5 is located, also is the place where my 2-year-old plays the most. Simply put, I cannot play if he is in the living room. Now, I am behaving like a child. Anyway, it occurred to me that my bedroom is empty during this time. The logical thing to do is to move the Playstation 5 to my bedroom. An unpractical solution is to buy another Playstation 5 for the bedroom. Both are not options that are available to me. I am a married man and I share this bedroom with my wife. This means, she controls what goes in the bedroom and what does not. The monstrosity of the PS5 is the reason it cannot stay in my bedroom. Now, I could go against my wife. Hell, I was tempted to. But, I still very much love her and would like to stay married to her. Bottom line, the Playstation cannot stay in my bedroom if I want to stay with my wife. It’s nice when life is so simple. Anyway, the Apple TV is in my bedroom and hence why I explored this option.

Conclusion

I tried really hard, but I cannot seem to continue to use the Apple TV to play my Playstation 5 games. I want to natively experience these games. These games are beautiful, well-developed, with interesting story lines. I am not doing justice to these games by experiencing it in 1080p on my Apple TV. It’s all Sony’s fault. Remote Play should support 4K HDR streaming. Until that happens, my search for alone time with my Playstation 5 continues.

It’s not all bad news. I will use this setup to play FIFA and Streets of Rage on my Apple TV. These games performed very well.

Hold on... there’s more