When the Steam Link app hits smartphones later this month, most users of the Steam Game Library will be playable on their phones in 4K resolution at 60fps, but only when connected to their home network – and it’s better if that network is 5 GHz, not 2.4 GHz, Valve said Variety.
The idea for the free Android and iOS app originated as a natural extension of Valve’s Steam In-Home Streaming technology, which allowed users to play computer games on a TV using a small device. Steam Link. The device, however, will not be required to use this new Steam Link app. “We’ve had a lot of customers who have requested the ability to stream elsewhere in their home in addition to their TV,” said Sam Lantinga of Valve, chief technology officer. Variety. “The bathroom has changed a lot, oddly enough. “
Lanting said the app uses the same Steam In-Home Streaming technology that is used in Steam Link. “Under the hood, we encode the H.264 video in real time, send it over a custom low-latency network protocol, and decompress it on the client,” he said. In general, you can play any game that works with a Steam controller. There is a small amount of latency that will affect competitive multiplayer games, and the larger screen of a tablet is preferred for gaming. with lots of text or small details.
He added that at launch, the app will support any iOS device running iOS 10 or newer, and any Apple TV running tvOS 10.3 or newer. On the Android side, Valve plans to release in beta initially in order to be able to carry out more exhaustive tests. At the start of the beta, the app will support Android 5.0 or later.
The stream quality bar is 1080p at 60 FPS with good quality for most scenes, he said. “If you have a powerful platform, a wired network, and a really good client device, it is possible to stream at 4K 60 FPS. You can access advanced streaming settings and adjust streaming resolution and bitrate for the best experience in your setup.
The app changes the view a bit, adding black bars around the edges to handle aspect ratio differences and the video is scaled to handle different screen sizes. Players will also be able to use two pinch and pan gestures to zoom in on the screen as needed.
The app is slated to launch the week of May 21 and will support the Steam controller, MFI controllers, and more on both platforms. The Steam Controller will not work outside of the app on cell phones.
Later this summer, Valve says, the Steam Video app will debut, allowing users to enjoy the thousands of movies and shows available on Steam directly through their Android and iOS devices via Wi-Fi or LTE in offline mode. and streaming.
The Steam Link was originally released in 2015 as a hardware component that can be used to wirelessly stream your Steam content from a computer to a TV. The tiny device released alongside the Steam Machine, Valve’s perspective on the computer and console that could stream all of Steam’s content to your TV through what looked like a set-top box.
