Apple’s senior vice President of Marketing Phil Schiller explained why Valve’s app for launching games on mobile devices from Steam was not allowed in the App Store.
On May 9, Valve announced that the Steam Link streaming app, which functions as a remote desktop for launching games from Steam on smartphones and tablets, will soon be available on iOS and Android. But then Apple revoked the permission to place the application in the online App Store, and for a long time did not comment on this decision.
Phil Schiller’s official response states that Steam Link was rejected by the review team due to numerous violations of the recommendations that App Store developers should follow. Violations relate, in particular, to the provisions on user content and in-app purchases. At the same time, Schiller stressed that Apple would very much like to see an application for Steam in its store.
We have discussed these issues with Valve and will continue to work with them in order to make Steam available for iOS and AppleTV on terms that will comply with the store's recommendations.
Apple Senior Vice President of Marketing
Schiller did not name specific violations. But, for example, among the App Store recommendations for applications with generated user content, there is a clause that users should be given the opportunity to filter unwanted content and remove offensive materials.
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