Valve is Killing the Steam Link, Buy One for $2.50

The Steam Link is a hard sale. Despite being pretty much universally loved by all those who own the devices, it just never saw great sales numbers, at least not good enough to justify its existence. Valve is officially discontinuing the product and the final stockpile of devices are on sale on Steam for $2.50 a pop. That’s down from $50, if you were curious.

To be clear, you will be $7.99 shipping, so you’re going to end up paying just over ten bucks for the thing, but from everything I’ve ever read, that’s an absolute steal. The Steam Link offers a bulletproof way to stream from your PC to your television, and while it was designed with gaming in mind, it’s also a good way to access all of the good streaming services that aren’t available through a lot of set-top boxes.

So what is the Steam Link exactly? It’s a little tiny box that lets you plug in a controller, keyboard, and mouse and wirelessly operate your computer through your television. It doesn’t have to be a wireless connection, as it also supports a wired ethernet connection, which is good news for those of us with poor Wi-Fi.

Nowadays, there a few different ways to do what the Steam Link does, and Valve even offers their own Steam Link app for Android phones and Smart TVs, but if you listen to Sean Hollister over at The Verge, all other methods pale in comparison to what Valve’s little box accomplishes.

Once the Steam Link sells out, it’s gone, and Valve is already warning that there will be delays with shipments. Even with the shipping, that’s (a little more than) ten bucks that will let you game, stream, and watch downloaded content through your television without hassle or lag. Don’t be surprised to see these things pop up on eBay for inflated prices.