After rejecting Valve’s Steam Link app from the App Store in May, Apple has revised its guidelines yesterday to permit “mirroring” apps. This doesn’t change its long-standing policy to reject apps that sell games and other software on a third-party platform. However, this update does mean that Valve will be able to re-submit Steam Link, which enable players to stream games from their PCs to their iOS devices.
Steam is the biggest marketplace for PC games, and with its app, players are able to access their libraries of games directly from their phones. Steam Link is already available in open beta on Android devices.
Apple’s initial decision to block the app was likely informed by its revenue model — if someone buys a game directly from the App Store, Apple stands to take a 15 to 30 percent cut. With the new policy, it will now allow apps that stream from PC to iOS devices as long as players aren’t making purchases directly from their mobile devices.
