Shortly after Apple made news by allowing game streaming services on the iPhone for the first time, AMD has some mobile game streaming news of its own…though probably not as welcome. The company announced that it’s ending support for the AMD Link mobile app, which allows gamers to stream games from PCs with Radeon graphics cards to Android and iOS as well as remotely control and monitor PC gaming functions. The system won’t be integrated with AMD’s Adrenalin driver package going forward.
AMD’s announcement (spotted by VideoCardz.com) explains that when it launched AMD Link in 2017, there were “few alternative remote gaming solutions for Radeon graphics users.” With expanded options, both from your own PC with an app like Steam Link or from a service like Xbox Game Pass or Nvidia’s GeForce Now, AMD considers its own efforts superfluous. It’s moving those resources elsewhere.
Even with a perfectly defensible business reason, the move is a bit surprising. The Google Play Store’s public-facing numbers show that the AMD Link app has been downloaded somewhere between one and five million times, though those users aren’t particularly happy, with an average 2.9 rating out of 5. The AMD Link app on iOS seems much more positively reviewed, but by a comparatively tiny amount of users. Apple doesn’t publish download numbers, but as of today it has only 11 written reviews.
At the time of writing both apps are still available for download, and presumably still functional. But it will probably stop working with an upcoming release of AMD Adrenalin desktop software package.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.