# Peer-to-peer

Game Clients normally connect to one another via the coherence Cloud services, but it is also possible to implement a peer-to-peer (P2P) scenario where they connect via 3rd party relays, such as **Steam Networking**, **Epic Online Services** and **Azure PlayFab**. These relays are essential for the Game Clients to find one-another and maintain connectivity.

This makes it possible for your **coherence**-enabled game to host the Replication Server directly on one of the Client machines, without using our cloud services. Hence, when we talk about peer-to-peer in coherence we refer to it as [Client-hosting](https://docs.coherence.io/1.6/hosting/client-hosting/implementing-client-hosting).

It involves three main parts:

1. A mechanism for bundling the **coherence** Replication Server with the game.
2. SDK methods that start and stop the Replication Server on the player's personal device.
3. A relay for communication between the Replication Server and some 3rd party networking service, such as [Steam Networking](https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/multiplayer/networking).

{% hint style="info" %}
Players running their own local Replication Server will still be bound by the legal terms of the **coherence** end user agreement. For questions regarding this, please reach out to us at the <mark style="color:blue;"><devrel@coherence.io></mark> email address.
{% endhint %}

### Pros and cons

If you decide to release your game with support for Client-hosting, it is important to first consider the tradeoffs of this approach:

* Server costs will be paid by those who provide the networking service, i.e. Valve in the case of relying on Steam Networking. The same goes for all major game consoles - running a networking service is effectively free for multiplayer game developers.
* Players will be running the Replication Server on their personal devices, so their specs and network conditions will have some impact on performance and reliability **for all players**.
* You will not have access to the full range of features included when you're using the **coherence** **Cloud** services.
* It lets your players keep playing the game over the Internet, even if your company or **coherence** goes out of business.

## Getting started with Client Hosting

Once you have decided that Client Hosting is a good fit for your game, you can head to the [**implementation** **page**](https://docs.coherence.io/1.6/hosting/client-hosting/implementing-client-hosting). Don't forget to also check the [Steam integration sample](https://github.com/coherence/steam-integration-sample).