17 ms·

On a related note, why doesn't steam install into android? It seems to me like there are hundreds of dozens of android games on steam(literal ports from android

by msl09 10y ago

On a related note, why doesn't steam install into android? It seems to me like there are hundreds of dozens of android games on steam(literal ports from android to PC/MAC) but there is no way for the player to install the android version on their phones, unless if they also buy from Playstore the games they already have on Steam.

khalilravanna 10y ago
I imagine it could be a myriad of things: legal reasons having to do with uploading an Android game to the Play store as well as another marketplace, Valve not wanting to fragment their product/software, Valve not wanting to have to support an entirely new OS, etc.
goda90 10y ago
It would also be a popular move for those who want to stream their games to Android devices that don't have an Nvidia card on Windows. GameStream(and Moonlight) work pretty well, but the fact that Steam streaming can work from a Linux machine with AMD graphics is pretty nice.
tomku 10y ago
1) Owning a Windows/Mac/Linux copy of a game does not mean you implicitly have a license to the Android version, even if it's a "literal port". 2) It's not really in Steam's interest to give you that license for free for games you already own, or to set up some kind of cross-buy where you automatically get it if you buy a PC copy. It'd cost them a ton of money and they have no reason to promote Android as a gaming platform alternative to PCs. 3) The juicy market on mobile isn't selling premium games like on Steam, it's selling in-app purchases in freemium games. I don't have an Android device handy but the first paid game on my iPhone's "Top Grossing Games" list is Minecraft at #44. The only other one in the top 150 is Reigns at #106. The premium game market on mobile is just not profitable enough to make a huge loss-leader like 2) above viable.
- Impossible 10y ago
  I think many developers would opt into giving Android versions of their game to owners on Steam if they have an Android port. If this wasn't the case then something like the Humble Mobile Bundle, which regularly gives you DRM free PC\Mac\Linux + Steam keys + Android APKs would not exist. At this point I think there is a large backlog of titles on Steam that have Android ports, and like with Mac and Linux developers would add those to Steam to make their older titles more attractive to new buyers. This feature would be more of a value add to Steam making the platform more attractive. If Steam on Android was big enough Valve could capture some of the free to play market as well, you're forgetting that even though Steam sells a lot of premium titles many of the most popular games are F2P already, roughly 20 of the top 100 player count games on Steam are F2P. Valve knows how many people have the Steam app installed on Android and it's fully possible that they don't consider the effort worth it for them. For me it'd be a nice way to manage updates for games that I already own on Steam, have APKs for (via Humble Bundle), but don't want to re-buy on Google Play just for automatic updates.

by msl09 10y ago

khalilravanna 10y ago

I imagine it could be a myriad of things: legal reasons having to do with uploading an Android game to the Play store as well as another marketplace, Valve not wanting to fragment their product/software, Valve not wanting to have to support an entirely new OS, etc.

goda90 10y ago

It would also be a popular move for those who want to stream their games to Android devices that don't have an Nvidia card on Windows. GameStream(and Moonlight) work pretty well, but the fact that Steam streaming can work from a Linux machine with AMD graphics is pretty nice.

tomku 10y ago

1) Owning a Windows/Mac/Linux copy of a game does not mean you implicitly have a license to the Android version, even if it's a "literal port". 2) It's not really in Steam's interest to give you that license for free for games you already own, or to set up some kind of cross-buy where you automatically get it if you buy a PC copy. It'd cost them a ton of money and they have no reason to promote Android as a gaming platform alternative to PCs. 3) The juicy market on mobile isn't selling premium games like on Steam, it's selling in-app purchases in freemium games. I don't have an Android device handy but the first paid game on my iPhone's "Top Grossing Games" list is Minecraft at #44. The only other one in the top 150 is Reigns at #106. The premium game market on mobile is just not profitable enough to make a huge loss-leader like 2) above viable.

Impossible 10y ago
I think many developers would opt into giving Android versions of their game to owners on Steam if they have an Android port. If this wasn't the case then something like the Humble Mobile Bundle, which regularly gives you DRM free PC\Mac\Linux + Steam keys + Android APKs would not exist. At this point I think there is a large backlog of titles on Steam that have Android ports, and like with Mac and Linux developers would add those to Steam to make their older titles more attractive to new buyers. This feature would be more of a value add to Steam making the platform more attractive. If Steam on Android was big enough Valve could capture some of the free to play market as well, you're forgetting that even though Steam sells a lot of premium titles many of the most popular games are F2P already, roughly 20 of the top 100 player count games on Steam are F2P. Valve knows how many people have the Steam app installed on Android and it's fully possible that they don't consider the effort worth it for them. For me it'd be a nice way to manage updates for games that I already own on Steam, have APKs for (via Humble Bundle), but don't want to re-buy on Google Play just for automatic updates.