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Apple's Phil Schiller Explains Why Valve's Steam Link App Was Rejected

I will say it is crappy for Apple to block the app. It is great having a walled garden for many reasons, but the more people see the walled garden due to limitations and restrictions, the more they will want to leave.

Okay that out of the way, why on earth does anyone want this stupid app anyway? I have many, many steam games. I go to my PC and play them. I boot my PC into mac mode and play them in there too. I don't want to go to my iPad and play them there. I just don't understand the point.

I think it is one of those things where the novelty will wear off and no one will use it anyway. Steam should focus on getting better on linux and getting a handle on all their crappy games that suck.
 
Piggie said:
When you've finished playing your £20 game you got on steam.
Which family member do you pass it onto? A close friends child perhaps?
Or sell it on to someone else, to help towards the purchase of another game?

None of those? ahhhhhhhh ;)
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https://store.steampowered.com/promotion/familysharing

They could always do that?
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eltoslightfoot said:
I will say it is crappy for Apple to block the app. It is great having a walled garden for many reasons, but the more people see the walled garden due to limitations and restrictions, the more they will want to leave.

Okay that out of the way, why on earth does anyone want this stupid app anyway? I have many, many steam games. I go to my PC and play them. I boot my PC into mac mode and play them in there too. I don't want to go to my iPad and play them there. I just don't understand the point.

I think it is one of those things where the novelty will wear off and no one will use it anyway. Steam should focus on getting better on linux and getting a handle on all their crappy games that suck.
Click to expand...

Getting better on Linux is a lot more difficult.
 
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Do people really think Apple was going to allow them to sell games through their own app and not pay a cent. Like what... lmfao :D
 
lec0rsaire said:
No way Apple will allow Valve to pillage market share of game sales on their own store. OK, pillage is too strong a word in this case but that’s what would happen. Valve did to the gaming industry what Apple did with iTunes to the music industry until streaming services changed the dominant model once again. Apple needs to figure gaming out and come up with a solution. They have the resources to set up some cloud gaming service. It would make the ecosystem more compelling for gamers.
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Apple has had decades to appeal to gamers yet they remain a joke when it comes to gaming. They’ve never taken gaming seriously on either the hardware or software side. They’re not going to catch up now.
 
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This is certainly annoying to consumers and developers.

I have an Apple TV 4k, which this would be nice to compare to the SteamLink (bought on sale for $25). But I imagine the experience will be the same - far too much display latency to actually play any fast paced games (even with wired ethernet). I suppose it's fine for things like Skyrim. For anyone thinking of switching to Android to get this app, I suggest getting a SteamLink instead - and then tossing it in your junk box cuz it's really not a good experience. If you want to switch because of the store policies, well I can't blame you for that ;)

What bugs me more is the Apple TV 4K is quite a capable device - probably comparable or better than the Nintendo Switch. But their other policies like the 200 MB segmenting (and previously required the remote to be usable for gameplay instead of a real controller) scare off any developers from making any real games for it.
 
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I'm really looking forward to a statement from Steam what they had to change... I'd put my bet on greedy Apple not getting a commission on Steam sales. Every other argument would as well impact any other remote desktop app...
Apple's Phil Schiller Explains Why Valve's Steam Link App Was Rejected
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Correction:
Apple's Phil Schiller Talks Hot Air
<°,((((<
 
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Rogifan said:
If I sign up for Spotify on my iOS device using Chrome browser Apple doesn’t get a cut. Apple doesn’t get a cut if I order food from the Panera app or buy something from Kohls or Target using their app. They don’t get a cut of Uber or Lyft transactions. So Apple deserves 30% of Steam purchases because they also sell games in the AppStore? I think it’s ridiculous.
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It would be one thing if Steam and iOS games were even remotely close quality wise. But gaming on iOS is pathetic and nowhere close to what Steam offers. Apple is insane if they think Steam gamers have any interest in the pay to win early 90s looking reject games that infest the App Store.
 
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Piggie said:
When you've finished playing your £20 game you got on steam.
Which family member do you pass it onto? A close friends child perhaps?
Or sell it on to someone else, to help towards the purchase of another game?

None of those? ahhhhhhhh ;)
Click to expand...
Nah, I just let my family share it via steam for free. As long as I'm not playing it they are welcome. I don't resell games because the developer gets none of the money. Come on, it's $20 for christ's sake. I've spent more on a hamburger. Granted it was one hell of a burger.

Edit to clarify: You can share your entire library with someone via steam. They can install the game on their computer and play away. As long as you aren't playing the game at that moment, they can. It takes some setup, but my niece got hooked on Skyrim and eventually bought her own copy and DLC for around $10. This was years ago though.

Edit 2 to add: https://store.steampowered.com/promotion/familysharing
 
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robbyx said:
Apple has had decades to appeal to gamers yet they remain a joke when it comes to gaming. They’ve never taken gaming seriously on either the hardware or software side. They’re not going to catch up now.
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Never say never. I know it’s not likely but anything is possible. At least gaming is now viable with eGPUs. Hopefully the adoption rate increases so that they cease to be a niche thing for now.
 
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Nueve said:
Do people really think Apple was going to allow them to sell games through their own app and not pay a cent. Like what... lmfao :D
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Most of the Steam games are designed for Windows are not made for iOS, or MacOS. A lot of these games were basically streamed to the AppleTV. You can't buy them on the AppleTV app.
 
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In their iOS App Store, AAPL only makes good Coin via Game Apps & Streaming Media Content Apps ... nothing else generates much Coin for them.

If AAPL loses their Stranglehold in Games, & The Market finds out, then AAPL's market cap will very-likely drop to ~1/2 it's current level ... afterall, most of the so-called Pro Stock Analysts have already given up on any iPhone sales growth moving forward, & are now touting Services as the 2nd Coming.

So, think mid-2016 stock pricing.

AAPL is in an extremely fragile situation, yet few currently realize it.
 
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lec0rsaire said:
Never say never. I know it’s not likely but anything is possible. At least gaming is now viable with eGPUs. Hopefully the adoption rate increases so that they cease to be a niche thing for now.
Click to expand...

I have no problem saying never when it comes to Apple and serious gaming. They simply don’t get it. Never have. It would take a near act of god to convince gamers that Apple offers a viable platform. Same goes for game publishers. eGPUs aren’t going to make any difference because gamers simply won’t buy Macs. Not only can you build a better gaming PC for far less money, but you don’t have to gamble on Apple’s commitment to gaming. Apple missed its window to be taken seriously when it comes to gaming. I don’t think anything can change that.
 
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Cosmosent said:
In their iOS App Store, AAPL only makes good Coin via Game Apps & Streaming Media Content Apps ... nothing else generates much Coin for them.

If AAPL loses their Stranglehold in Games, & The Market finds out, then AAPL's market cap will very-likely drop to ~1/2 it's current level ... afterall, most of the so-called Pro Stock Analysts have already given up on any iPhone sales growth moving forward, & are now touting Services as the 2nd Coming.

So, think mid-2016 stock pricing.

AAPL is in an extremely fragile situation, yet few currently realize it.
Click to expand...

Hyperbole much? They’re sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars. They’re not even close to an extremely fragile position. And while iPhone sales aren’t growing like they used to, they aren’t shrinking and Apple makes a lot of coin on every iPhone sold, far more than any competitor does on its phones. I agree that Wall Street is focused on services and that could lead to a major adjustment in share price if services don’t perform to Wall Street’s expectations, but Apple’s share price isn’t reflective of the company’s overall health.
 
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Quite frankly the “fix” for this is to make the steam app on Apple TV subscription based. Say 3 to 4.99 per month. And it’s would likely be approved.

Or the more likely scenario is that Apple and Valve have an unpublished agreement to do some sort of revenue share based on downloads.

It’s greedy and screwed up but Apple is in a position to irritate the s—- out of and stifle Valve’s growth here.
 
Sakurambo-kun said:
Steam Link is simply a remote desktop app. That’s it, that’s all it does. For Apple to block this but none of the other remote desktop apps already on the App Store is truly absurd.
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So why even create this app? Could not everyone just use an existing app? Clearly something must be different for Valve to use resources to create yet another remote desktop app?
 
alexgowers said:
I can guarantee steam wanted the full experience and included the ability to buy in game coins or something and Apple deemed because it wasn’t getting its % that it would reject it.
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You can guarantee something you know nothing about just because you have so much faith in apple to do the right thing. That's just sad.

These games don't have IAP coins and freemium hell. That disgusting model is Apple's contribution to the world.

Although, Steam offers a large library of games that are designed from the ground up to be fun and not to get you hooked on a chore they can then charge you not to do. Perhaps apple is afraid when people discover that it will put an end to the games section of their store.
 
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robbyx said:
I have no problem saying never when it comes to Apple and serious gaming. They simply don’t get it. Never have. It would take a near act of god to convince gamers that Apple offers a viable platform. Same goes for game publishers. eGPUs aren’t going to make any difference because gamers simply won’t buy Macs. Not only can you build a better gaming PC for far less money, but you don’t have to gamble on Apple’s commitment to gaming. Apple missed its window to be taken seriously when it comes to gaming. I don’t think anything can change that.
Click to expand...
Hence why Apple is getting into original programming and will probably have a magazine/news subscription service soon too. Probably what the Texture acquisition was all about. It is sad that right now Apple’s growth in services revenues (that gets touted as this great thing) is mostly tied to game IAP and iCloud storage purchases. I recently downloaded an app that has relaxing sounds, something you’d turn on right before bed. The ads were so intrusive and annoying. To get rid of them was $5. I’m sorry but Apple shouldn’t be proud they’re making a crap ton of $$ off of stuff like this.
 
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Regime2008 said:
I HIGHLY doubt you have more time and experience with steam than I do. Especially how you have been incorrect with just about everything related to steam. I have 100's of thousands of hours logged on to games, and many badges over the years that show my steam support.
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How many hundreds of thousands? I'm just curious where you find the time. You did use a plural and 200 thousand hours is 8 hours a day, 7 days a week for 68 years.
 
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Michael Goff said:
I was responding to Rogifan who said deserve.
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But a genuine question. How can Apple justify getting a share of a person making a purchase from the Steam library even if made via the Apple app. The game is not stored or hosted on an Apple device but on a PC. It is not run on an Apple device. For stuff like ebooks, the ebook is stored on the Apple device. Surely in any case the best placece to buy from Steam is from the PC.

Edit. : Spell correction
 
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