Soon, gamers will be able to stream Steam downloads on their smartphone, thanks to a new app from Steam. Developers of the Steam platform Valve Corporation have announced that players will soon be able to stream both games and movies to their phone.

This brings mobile game streaming to Android and iOS, as Valve has announced their Steam Link app will allow users to stream content off their Mac or PC to their smartphone via an internet connection.

Steam Link makes the leap to mobile

While Steam Link allows users to play games stored on their home computer, a further app, Steam Video, will stream video content in a similar way.

Steam Link isn’t a brand new service; users have long been able to stream content via Steam Link to set-top boxes and Samsung smart TVs on the same network. But Valve will update the app to include mobile connectivity with a Steam-built product.

Meanwhile, using the new Steam Video app, users will be able to download movies to a mobile device to watch offline later. This should prove useful for people on the go who have limited data available but still want to watch videos.

Steam Video follows a suite of platforms including Netflix and YouTube Red with this feature.

Valve has so far released some details

The two new apps will be free to download and will hit online stores from the week commencing May 21 on Android and iOS devices.

Steam Link will allow users to stream PC games from their Steam library but requires either a 5 GHz wireless network or a wired Ethernet connection to do so.

Many users might be put off by the high technical specifications expected of the new service. It also means that while mobile gaming is possible, users won’t be able to stream games whenever, wherever.

Nevertheless, Valve has announced the app will support the Steam Controller and MFi controllers but haven’t released any further details about hardware support. This will no doubt lead some gamers to question whether they will be able to use their device’s touchscreen in order to play games.

So far, Valve has neither confirmed nor denied support for this feature, or any other hardware or peripherals including keyboard and mouse.

The company has also failed to confirm the full number of games which will be available to stream on Steam Link. Whether or not it will be a user’s entire library of downloads or a limited number remains to be seen.

What do you think of these two new apps? Will you be downloading them, or don’t they interest you? Feel free to let us know your thoughts with a comment!
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