Valve enables users to create their own Steam Link with a Raspberry Pi

Valve’s Steam Link box came to an end last month, as the company shifted its focus from the streaming hardware to its underlying software. In an attempt to offer up an alternative to its first-party solution, Valve has given users the ability to make their own Steam Link box with a Raspberry Pi.

Steam Link’s iOS software might be in the wind, but a new version of the application has made its way to Raspberry Pi 3 and 3B+ systems running Raspbian Stretch as their operating system. The program is currently in beta, and can be installed via a simple command line:

curl -#Of http://media.steampowered.com/steamlink/rpi/steamlink_1.0.5_armhf.deb
sudo dpkg -i steamlink_1.0.5_armhf.deb

Once installed, the app should be accessible by running “steamlink” in the command line, which will in turn create a desktop shortcut for easier access. There is a slight jump in lag between the original Steam Link to the Raspberry Pi version, reaching as high as 5ms. This could be tempered as Valve makes progress on the software, but primary differences caused by the varying hardware will always mean that there’s a disparity between the two.

In general, Valve seems to be moving away from hardware, dropping its Steam Machines earlier this year. Now, it seems that the Steam Controller and the HTC Vive is the only thing remaining in Steam’s hardware tab in an effort to keep pushing its SteamVR software.

KitGuru Says: I do own a Steam Link box myself, but sadly haven’t used it to its full potential. It is a great device to blast local party games from the main TV, though. Did you manage to grab yourself a Steam Link before they sold out or are you going to create your own Raspberry Pi version?

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