Valve Removes Game Purchasing Option From Steam Link in Hopes of App Store Approval

[Regime2008]

I feel so sorry for those who make the choice to have to deal with this kinda B.S. If I'm paying top dollar, only to have less options/no options at all, I would seriously be questioning my purchases and why am i missing out.

 

[praetorian909]

Sony prohibits multiplayer with other consoles. There is no technical reason to do that and some games actually had cross-console multiplayer enabled "by accident" before it got blocked: it's entirely an anti-competitive measure.

It’s funny how MS (of all companies) likes to make it known that Sony won’t allow crossplay. When years ago when XBOX 360 was king, they wouldn’t allow PS3 to cross play.

Not so good when the shoe is on the other foot, isn’t it.

For example:
https://kotaku.com/5813740/i-saw-the-playstation-3-wired-to-play-against-an-xbox-360-but-you-wont

 

[SarcasticJoe]

I guess Apple denying Valve the ability to put the Steam link app on the App Store now finally makes sense... Didn't know they allowed purchases in the app when the first stories about the rejection came out and I lambasted Apple for it, but now that I do Apple does have a point, although one I don't fully agree with.

Not only is there the way Apple wants it's cut of all app-related transactions on it's devices, there's also the diametrically opposed content policies. After their recent change of heart Valve has decided it's not their job to police what perfectly legal content their customers should or should not have access to, barring parental protections. Apple on the other hand takes a very heavy handed approach and has amongst other things banned anything even slightly sexual in nature, even for those accounts without parental protections in place.

 

[originalmagneto]

Every time I’m playing on tvOS and want to buy a game from Steam, I’m going to open Teamviewer on my iPad or iPhone sitting right next to me and take a short video of this process. Then Im going to tweet it to apple and Phil Schiller to remind them of how dumb this whole thing is

Why Teamviewer? You can do it with the built-in screen capture feature

 

[mazz0]

Like it or not, Apple has been pretty clear about linking to non-apple-store purchases from inside an app. It's likely Valve knew better, but wanted to see if they could sneak it in.

Clear? They've been the complete opposite of clear - their position makes no sense at all. They at the same time said the UI presented on the iOD device, which is everything because we're talking about an iOS app, can't include the shop, but you can include the shop if the transactions actually takes place on the PC. Well which is it? The transaction does take place on the PC, but the UI is rendered on the iOS device (obviously).

And to make it even more absurd - you can buy Steam games using the Steam app on iOS!

 

[Sakurambo-kun]

This is a very, very dangerous precedent. Steam Link is a remote desktop app that allows people to buy PC applications. How is that different to buying a PS4 game from the PSN app? Or buying a toaster from Amazon?

Apple's anti-consumer stance is so bone headed, knuckle dragging, and frankly downright insulting. Who do they think this type of BS behaviour benefits? Certainly not Apple customers.

 

[bjet767]

I don't know who's the biggest anti-consumer company right now when it comes to games.

Let me see if I can understand how you and others define, “anti-consumer.”

Being anti-consumer is making people pay for what they consume rather than get it for free. Even when it took thousands of people who have to feed their families and buy their stuff while providing what is desired to be consumed free (or nearly free).

Yes I’m all for fair competition and that whole market defined price and value idea, but how is Apple being unfair by demanding a share of the revenue stream from Steam?

Oh well I guess I’ll never understand these things.

 

[chrisbru]

Sony does not allow cross-multiplayer with the Switch either. Furthermore, Microsoft has actually taken some very player-friendly decisions this gen, like implementing Xbox backward compatibility and Play Anywhere.

I'm curious to see how the Switch crossplay shakes out. Sony could decide to allow it - there hasn't been a game that would take advantage of it before, so this might be a reason to enable it.

I agree with you about MSFT. They've been much more consumer-friendly this gen.

 

[3NV7]

It’s funny how MS (of all companies) likes to make it known that Sony won’t allow crossplay. When years ago when XBOX 360 was king, they wouldn’t allow PS3 to cross play.

Not so good when the shoe is on the other foot, isn’t it.

For example:
https://kotaku.com/5813740/i-saw-the-playstation-3-wired-to-play-against-an-xbox-360-but-you-wont

To the best of my knowledge, neither Sony nor Microsoft were in favor of cross-platform between the PS3 and360 last generation.

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

The games bought through the Steam app aren't in-app content or features as they're tied to the machine that's running them (i.e. your PC) not the iOS device and not the Steam Link. The purchased software is two steps removed from the hardware it's running on, unless I'm missing something.

The 'content' is being consumed on the iOS device.
Doesn't matter how 'removed' it is from the device.

Think of it like Netflix (using your scenario) the content or feature is tied to a machine that is streaming them, not the iOS device. The purchase of a Netflix account is removed form the hardware it is running on.

 

[Simon Belmont]

I bet it does not, now it's in line with other options such as Amazon's apps.

Agreed I don't see why not when apps like KinoConsole currently sit on the store.

 

[PhoenixFireless]

But Netflix/Amazon/Google Play/Vudu are all apps that play content that you don't purchase from Apple. I'm pretty sure Apple will have to approve this, unless they object to something like the controller support (I think they support non-MFI controllers somehow.)

Honestly, steam on iOS is a weird different beast, you're basically browsing content you CAN'T play on the device you purchase.

 

[Michael Goff]

For Sony, it's more of a (admittedly childish) retaliatory measure. When Microsoft was winning the console war last generation with XB360, Microsoft refused to allow cross-platform play with PS3. Now that Sony is the console leader, Microsoft is all for crossplay, but Sony is holding the same line Microsoft set.

It's to everyone's detriment, of course. But it's slightly more than JUST an anti-competitive measure.

That was back when PSN was a mess that got hacked all the time.
[doublepost=1529184672][/doublepost]

It’s funny how MS (of all companies) likes to make it known that Sony won’t allow crossplay. When years ago when XBOX 360 was king, they wouldn’t allow PS3 to cross play.

Not so good when the shoe is on the other foot, isn’t it.

For example:
https://kotaku.com/5813740/i-saw-the-playstation-3-wired-to-play-against-an-xbox-360-but-you-wont

They didn't want the terrible PSN infecting their actually good services.