Valve has launched a standalone Steam Link app in Apple’s MacOS App Store, adding a new option for Mac users who want to play games on machines often described as poor game choices.
Steam Link allows users to stream games from a gaming computer to a supported device on the same local network and to play the games with an MFI or Steam controller.
Valve has already offered a full Steam app for macOS, but it takes up 1 GB of space and has the reputation of being awkward. In contrast, the Steam Link app has a minimalist interface that looks like it was designed with peripherals for game control.
Valve also previously offered a Steam Link app for iOS and iPadOS, but this is the first time the company has released software through Apple’s macOS App Store. (The full version of Steam is offered as a download on the Internet, not as an App Store app.)
Game streaming has had a somewhat turbulent history on Apple’s mobile platforms, but it’s been a bit more rosy on the MacOS side. The same streaming features that Steam Link offers have been possible through the full Steam app for macOS, GeForce Now has a Mac client and Mac users have long enjoyed the ability to stream PlayStation games with a barebones app.
Overall, Mac games have had its ups and downs over the years, and things have been going down lately. Apple’s transition from OpenGL to Metal has allowed for much better performance for games that developers are struggling to support, but we’ve also seen fewer Mac ports of triple-A games in recent times.
However, many India still support the Mac, and with the introduction of Macs using CPUs and GPUs that share an architecture with the chips found in iPhones and iPads, Apple has opened the door for iOS and iPadOS games to be originally on newer Macs to work.
However, our own tests of iOS and iPadOS games on the M1-equipped Macs launched last year showed that things were quite striking, with interface issues and other limitations providing a subpar par experience. As a result, macOS currently feels trapped between the two big worlds of computer games and iPhone games, without yet fully leaning towards becoming an optimal platform for anyone.
With Steam Link, users can play modern, up-to-date games on a MacBook Air or similar, as long as they have a dedicated Windows computer on the same local area network.