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Apple Blocks Steam's Plan To Extend Its Video Games To iPhones (reuters.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the not-on-my-watch dept.

Citing "business conflicts," Apple has blocked Steam's plans to distribute PC-based video games to iPhones. It's "a sign that Apple is serious about protecting its ability to take a cut of digital purchases made inside games on its mobile devices," reports Reuters. From the report: Steam, the dominant online store for downloaded games played on Windows PCs, had planned to release a free mobile phone app called Steam Link so that gamers could continue playing on their mobile phones while away from their desktop machines. But Apple has rejected the app, blocking its release, according to a statement from Steam's parent company, the Bellevue, Washington-based Valve. Steam did not give a precise reason for the App Store denials, saying only that Apple cited "business conflicts with app guidelines." But the conflict likely centers on what are known as in-app purchases or micro-transactions, in which gamers can spend small sums of money inside games to buy tokens, extra lives or others so-called digital goods. Lombardi said Steam disabled purchasing its iOS app but did not elaborate on how the change was made. Many analysts believe Apple could lose revenue if they allow Steam's app, which is essentially a store-within-a-store. "Apple takes a 30 percent cut of such purchases made within apps distributed through its App Store," Reuters notes. "[T]hose purchases are among the primary drivers of revenue in Apple's services business."

9 of 202 comments (clear)

  1. Anti competitive by jwymanm · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is the real reason Apple is so locked down. To keep the money funnel going. You can't fault a company for doing this but it is seriously anti competitive in nature. It's the only reason I stick with Android too since you can still side load (for how much longer don't know).

    1. Re: Anti competitive by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I can and do fault people who give their money for this locked down, anti-freedom system. It is true that many people do not understand the issues, but a lot of techies do (or should) and buy this stuff anyway. Despite repeated examples of why it's a bad idea, they allow themselves to be locked into a platform. "This time will be different" or some such nonsense. Well, here is a good example of why it's bad, right here. This time is not different.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re: Anti competitive by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A company that locks you in to their platform, but generally respects your privacy (at least to our knowledge), or a company that's far less locked down, but pisses all over your privacy.

      You can do something about the privacy problem. You can't do much about the lockdown problem.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    3. Re:Anti competitive by jwymanm · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It blocks customers from using another provider outside Apple's ecosystem while providing no alternative for regular PC gaming on their line of smartphone devices. It's anti fair use, anti open source/technology, anti open market, and anti competition. I said you can't fault Apple for doing so since it is more profitable this way and I've argued in the past about slippery slope (once they allow Steam everyone will want to do it). But please spare me questions on how this is anti competition. It's the equivalent of Microsoft or Google blocking other search engines on their phones because they want ad revenue.

    4. Re:Anti competitive by vux984 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      " Steam is free to release their own SteamPhone"

      And what does that have to do with anything?

      That's like saying GM can block you from getting your oil changed at minute lube, and its not anti-competitive because minute-lube can produce its own cars and perform oil changes on those.

      That's fucking idiotic.

      And its the main reason i don't own an apple ios device. I want multiple store fronts. For example, I want stuff i buy on humblebundle to work on all my compatible devices.

      I have no objection ot the apple store existing, but buying an apple phone shouldn't amount to consent to only purchasing from the apple store, because apple actively blocks other stores from existing. That's anti-competitive.

      Should your teleco get a cut of all your telephone and online purchases because they built the platform you are using to make those purchases too. Never mind your shiny little phone that's peanutes here; what about all the telephone and internet infrastructure you use? Why does Apple get a 30 cents of every dollar you spend while holding your phone, but ATT, Comcast, Verizon, etc etc don't get 30 cents on every dollar you spend on Amazon, or ordering Pizza, or on Apple Store purchases etc. Your piddly little phone is useless without the network, why shouldn't they get 30% of every dollar you spend using the network?

      "They spent a lot of money on the infrastructure you use, and there's no reason to let others profit from it for free." Right?

    5. Re: Anti competitive by reanjr · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sideload with XCode? So you have to buy a Macbook to load open source software onto the phone? Yeah, that's not a closed ecosystem at all...

  2. Confusing by TraumaFox · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't understand any of the logic here. Steam already exists as a smartphone app which allows me to access the Steam store, purchase games, and even remotely install them on my PC, so obviously the "store within a store" reasoning is already moot. Steam Link is just a thing that would let me stream the video/audio of a game playing on my PC to another device, in this case my iPhone/iPad. Arguing that Steam Link on its own somehow constitutes competing with the App Store is nonsense; I could do the same thing with any other remote desktop app, and in either case the playable library is going to be very limited by the lack of control options on a smartphone, more or less forcing me to use an external input device anyway. I am still required to be on the same local network and still have to run these games on my PC in order to stream them, so the only real function of the Steam Link app is extending my PC's display to a mobile screen.

    1. Re:Confusing by TraumaFox · · Score: 5, Informative

      According to the article, Steam Link would have been a separate application solely for streaming games. Even if both apps were consolidated, the notion that I'd be buying games "for my phone" is still wrong, because the only way for this to work is through a PC which again only lets me use my Apple device as a remote screen within my own house. In reality, the Steam Link app was more likely intended for iPads to benefit from a larger screen and an attached keyboard. It would have been a simple convenience for existing Steam users, nothing more.

      It should also be pointed out that Steam is available for purchasing and playing games directly on Mac OS.

  3. Re:The least complicated answer... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Steam Link isn't an emulator. It's essentially a fancy remote control for your computer which is running Steam on it. The game runs on your computer (as they normally would) but the display is streamed to the receiving device (Steam Link) and then input from the receiving device pushed back to the computer. Apple isn't blocking Steam Link for being an emulator. There are likely other motivations at work.