Valve brings Steam gaming to Android, iOS devices

Valve has announced it is bringing Steam In-Home Streaming to mobile devices, allowing games installed on a host PC to be played on an Android or iOS-based smartphone, tablet, set-top box, or smart TV.

Originally designed for streaming between a powerful gaming PC and a less-obtrusive living-room PC or the dedicated Steam Link receiver, Valve's Steam In-Home Streaming uses the same technology as cloud gaming minus the cloud: Games are executed on the host PC, then the resulting video and audio streamed to the remote device; inputs on the remote device are then streamed back to the host PC to control the game.

Later this month, Valve has announced, Steam In-Home Streaming is going to get considerably more accessible with the launch of a Steam Link application for Android and iOS smart devices. 'The Steam Link app [...] allows gamers to experience their Steam library of games on their Android (phone, tablet, TV) and iOS-based (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV) devices while connected via 5GHz network or wired Ethernet to a host system - Mac or PC,' Valve explains in the release announcement

Available in beta form for Android initially, the app supports the Steam Controller, Apple MFi certified controllers, and additional third-party controllers on both platforms. The software will also be followed, Valve has promised, by Steam Video, which provides access to Steam's library of video content over Wi-Fi or mobile connectivity in streamed and offline modes.

Steam Link is due to launch in the week of May 21st, with Steam Video to follow later in the summer.