For a moment there, gamers almost had a reason to buy at Apple TV. Almost. That was until Apple decided to revoke a previously approved application from Valve to bring Steam Link to iOS. In an effort to drive Apple to reconsider, Valve is doing a healthy bit of shaming from the sidelines.
It was only revealed in early May that Valve was introducing the new Steam Link app to both iOS and Andorid devices. As you may imagine, Steam Link was able to remotely stream your Steam games to phones, Smart TV’s and any other devices that could run the app with a 5G Wi-Fi connection. In other words, this was a welcome boon to PC players that could suddenly play in front of TV’s.
Lo and behold, the May 21 release day passed with no Steam Link launch. In a quick note to the media, Valve shifted the blame directly to Apple. After being approved, the iOS development review team rolled back the approval under the guise of “business conflicts.” Right now iOS device owners can download and purchase games from the App Store, which is the likely conflict:
Valve press statement on the Steam Link app for iOS being rejected by Apple. pic.twitter.com/dIAW22izfz
— Steam Database (@SteamDB) May 24, 2018
Valve did leave the door open for Apple to re-review the game and unblock the game. However, it doesn’t appear that hopeful iOS owners should hold their breath. Meanwhile, Steam Link will soon be available on Android barring any similar issues.
Though Valve is winning this PR issue, they aren’t entirely in the clear. Steam found itself in hot water after delivering takedown notices to many VN’s. Fan petitions rained from left and right and developers moved to other portals. Before partially-backtracking on those statements, the reputational damage had been done to the retailer.
As mentioned above, Steam Link will not currently be coming to iOS. However, the Android is out now for everyone interested. For those looking to join in on mobile fun, Valve’s Steam Controller is available via Amazon.
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