Last May, I spent a bit of time pontificating on whether or not Steam belongs on a mobile platform. Regardless of my opinions on the subject (too lazy to read the article? The short version is “maybe, but they need to be careful”), Valve has just taken its first big step into the world of smartphones with the release of Steam Mobile for both iPhone and Android.
Last May, I spent a bit of time pontificating on whether or not Steam belongs on a mobile platform. Regardless of my opinions on the subject (too lazy to read the article? The short version is “maybe, but they need to be careful”), Valve has just taken its first big step into the world of smartphones with the release of Steam Mobile for both iPhone and Android.
So what does Steam Mobile do? According to the iTunes description;
“With the free Steam app for iOS, you can participate in the Steam community wherever you go. Chat with your Steam friends, browse community groups and user profiles, read the latest gaming news and stay up to date on unbeatable Steam sales.”
I wish I could say more, but as it turns out, Steam Mobile is currently in closed beta. And while I certainly have my own wishlist of things I’m hoping to see in here – push notifications on daily deals, an easy way to see new releases, and a way to remotely start downloads to my PC – it looks like we’ll have to wait until things loosen up a little bit before we can give you a full report.
Still – even if the beta is closed, it’s well worth downloading for yourself. Trying to sign in might present you with an “account not in beta” message, but it also says that they’ve “made a note of your account and will be sending out more invites shortly.” Let’s keep our fingers crossed that shortly means days and not weeks, as we’re all too eager to tie our desktop gaming experiences to our pocket devices.
iPhone users can grab Steam Mobile in the App Store, while Android users can snag it from the Android Market.
