Video game developer Valve recently announced that its Steam Link streaming service will be coming to mobile devices by the end of May, and now a beta version for Android is giving us a taste of what it's like. The app is available in the Google Play Store starting Thursday and will let you stream entire PC games via Steam. All you need is your smartphone connected to a computer via a 5GHz Wi-Fi network, and your computer connected directly to your router via Ethernet.
At this time, Steam Link will not be able to be used over LTE.
Essentially, this means you'll be able to play games on your phone using the Steam Controller and possibly any other Bluetooth gaming device, which includes the Xbox One controller and other compatible Android devices. The app will also work on Android TV set-top boxes, as long as your Android TV is connected directly to the same router as your computer. According to Variety, Valve says it will be able to support 4K at 60 fps, but 1080p at 60fps will be the standard image quality for most games.
Steam Link launched in 2015 as an add-on device as part of Valve's broader Steam Machine initiative. This was intended to promote a Linux-based software ecosystem that would allow PC gamers to play Steam games on their TVs using a special controller that mimics the freedom of movement of a mouse.
And while Steam Machines didn't have much luck, Steam Link became the most viable component of the platform once Valve discontinued the peripheral hardware and made the software available for smart TVs. Valve says an iOS/Apple TV version of Steam Link is coming soon, once Apple approves the software for the App Store.
