Mac owners who had pre-ordered Valve’s Steam Link game streaming device are receiving emailed apologies from the company, as the box isn’t compatible with Apple’s ecosystem at launch as promised.
The $49.99 Steam Link is a set-top box for the living room that connects users to Valve’s Steam platform by streaming content from a PC and into a more traditional console environment. To support the thousands of games that are meant to be played on a mouse and keyboard, the company also launched the Steam Controller for $49.99 alongside the Steam Link. Unfortunately for Mac users, the controller is also incompatible with the Apple line at launch, but Valve hopes the issue to be resolved in “the next few weeks.”
Valve expects the issues to be resolved via firmware and driver updates, over the next few weeks. The company says an upcoming update will add full support for streaming audio, video, and controller input.
In an attempt to atone for the foul-up, Valve is providing Mac users who pre-ordered the Steam Link and Steam Controller a free download of the Valve Complete Pack, which includes the company’s entire back catalog of games. Plus the company promises future Valve titles will also be available free of charge to affected users.
The Complete Pack includes such classics as Half-Life, Counter Strike, Portal, Left 4 Dead, and all of their sequels.
If they so wish, Mac users do have the option to return the Steam Link and Controller and still keep the Complete Pack.
