When it comes to digital game downloading, Steam is most certainly a household name but Valve are looking to go even further with two streaming apps dubbed the Steam Link and Steam Video, both of which come with Android and iOS support.
First of the two apps, Steam Link, is coming out on 21 May 2018 and Valve says it will support phones, tablets and TVs, including Apple's differently named versions of these devices. Note however that only "Android access [is] initially offered in beta."
Valve say that the connection requires a 5GHz network or wired Ethernet to your PC or Mac. The app also supports the Steam Controller, MFI controllers and, as the company claims, "more across both platforms."
Steam Link will be followed up by Valve's Steam Video application sometime later this summer and, as the name suggests, it will allow for watching movies and shows on Android and iOS via WiFi or LTE connection. Interestingly, the says that customer feedback resulted in Valve allowing for viewing content in offline and streaming modes.
The move seems pretty smart from the aspect of Steam's appeal and usability, which always translates well to the financial side of things. At the same time, it may explain Valve's recent addition of Nintendo Switch controller to the list of Steam's supported controllers. It was about lazy people who own the Switch all along. Kidding, of course.
We must admit we welcomed a bit of positive news from the team behind Steam, seeing as how they've been making headlines for all the wrong reasons lately. First there was all the hoopla and Valve's seeming insistence on putting it out of business, then they got fined $3 million in the Land Down Under over their refund policy.
Valve
Thankfully, Gabe and Co are back on track to actually offering something interesting to the world. That, however, most certainly does not include Artifact and the only reason we resorted to using it here is because Steam has no trailer of its own we could've used instead.
