Valve Could Be Looking For Ways Get Steam Link For iOS Approved

When Valve announced the Steam Link app, it sounded quite promising. After all who wouldn’t want to be able to play PC games on their mobile phones, right? Unfortunately the launch on iOS did not go the way Valve had hoped and Apple rejected the app, citing “business conflicts”, although there were no specifics given.

However it seems that Valve could be looking for ways to ensure that Steam Link on iOS is approved. According to Touch Arcade, they have discovered that an update to the Steam Link iOS beta has removed the ability to make in-app purchases. This means that gamers who wanted to purchase games had to do so via the Steam app on their computers.

As Touch Arcade points out, one of Apple’s guideline involves the UI of apps, where, “The UI appearing on the client does not resemble an iOS or App Store view, does not provide a store-like interface, or include the ability to browse, select, or purchase software not already owned or licensed by the user.”

It is possible that by removing in-app purchases, Apple could approve the app to be launched on iOS. However it would be odd if that was the reason. This is because Apple gets a pretty decent cut from in-app purchases, and considering how big Steam is, they would have stood to gain a lot of money. Either way we’ll have to wait and see if this does anything to speed up the approval process.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones, Gaming
Tags: Apps, iOS, Steam (Valve), Valve