Valve appears to be testing ARM64 and Android gaming support for Steam on Linux

[zohaibahd]

Highly anticipated: Valve seems to be quietly working on expanding its gaming ecosystem to support Arm-based processors and Android. Recent developments spotted in Valve's Proton code on SteamDB suggest the company is testing an "ARM64" version of its Linux compatibility layer, dubbed "proton-arm64ec-4."

Proton is Valve's solution for running many Windows games seamlessly on the Linux-based SteamOS. The leaked code shows Valve testing this ARM64 version with a wide range of titles, including popular games such as Left 4 Dead 2, Garry's Mod, and Shadow of Mordor, as well as various VR games and indie titles.

While this code snippet doesn't confirm an imminent release of an Arm version of Steam, the motivations behind the development are intriguing.

One possibility is that Valve could be preparing Arm support for a rumored upcoming Valve VR headset, codenamed "Deckard," which is speculated to have a standalone mode running Linux on an Arm processor. However, the inclusion of non-VR games in the testing list suggests that Valve may also be working on bringing Steam to Arm-based desktop devices and not just a new VR headset.

Another exciting prospect is the potential for Steam to be available on Android phones and tablets. The leaked code references "Waydroid," an open-source container system that allows running Android apps and games on Linux, indicating that Android compatibility may be on the table.

Valve's efforts in this area are likely driven by the growing popularity of Arm processors, most recently with Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips finding their way into many Windows laptops – or at least the company sees the potential.

Gaming on these devices has had a rocky start, with Qualcomm previously claiming that most PC titles would "just work" through emulation, which, of course, is not ideal. Having Steam's vast library natively supporting Arm PCs could be a massive boost.

It's important to note that this is speculation based on the leaked code, and Valve, known for its love of rarely giving forward-looking information, has not officially announced any such plans. So, these theories should be taken with a grain of salt.

Still, if any company can help usher in an Arm gaming revolution in style, it's the folks behind the world's biggest gaming platform.

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Valve appears to be testing ARM64 and Android gaming support for Steam on Linux

 

[Felusy]

SteamOS seems to be kinda DOA considering Steam don't have monopoly anymore.
Tons of PC games are not on Steam these days (ore require 3rd party launchers)

Valve should make a console maybe. Not a handheld, but a PS5/XSX competitor.

 

[Art C]

Everyone needs to do their part to help move the world from Windows to Linux. It's time.

 

[yRaz]

SteamOS seems to be kinda DOA considering Steam don't have monopoly anymore.
Tons of PC games are not on Steam these days (ore require 3rd party launchers)

Valve should make a console maybe. Not a handheld, but a PS5/XSX competitor.

You can get a dock for the steamdeck and use it as a console the same way use a switch.

And SteamOS is far from DOA, there is enough demand for it on other handhelds they're making a version for the Asus ally and the Legion GO. Technically, you can put it on anything, it's just not officially supported.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

SteamOS seems to be kinda DOA considering Steam don't have monopoly anymore.
Tons of PC games are not on Steam these days (ore require 3rd party launchers)

Valve should make a console maybe. Not a handheld, but a PS5/XSX competitor.

The vast majority of games on PC are sold through steam. Those "tons" of games are from Ubisoft/EA/Activision, which still see the majority of their sales via Steam.

Valve making a console would be utterly pointless, they get console level margin on software with no hardware requirement. The hardware they do make, the Steam deck, is selling very well.

 

[ThomasTECH]

Steam on Linux, dreams really can come true! If this happens I might have to try out becoming a professional gamer. We got OBS all we need is STEAM!

 

[Felusy]

Steam on Linux, dreams really can come true! If this happens I might have to try out becoming a professional gamer. We got OBS all we need is STEAM!

Steam lacks tons of PC games. SteamOS has been a thing for years.

 

[Felusy]

The vast majority of games on PC are sold through steam. Those "tons" of games are from Ubisoft/EA/Activision, which still see the majority of their sales via Steam.

Valve making a console would be utterly pointless, they get console level margin on software with no hardware requirement. The hardware they do make, the Steam deck, is selling very well.

Steam Deck is not selling very well. 3 million units tops has been sold. Performance is crap in most new AAA games.

Nintendo sold 150 million Switch for comparison.

Handhelds running Windows natively sold way better than Steam Deck.

 

[Burty117]

Handhelds running Windows natively sold way better than Steam Deck.

Do you have any links to any evidence of this?

Because on a quick Google, Steamdeck has sold “multiple millions” and the only windows handheld with any significant sales is the Asus ROG Ally and nothing out there says it reached a million in sales…

But, as always, happy to be proven wrong from a quick Google search.

 

[Burty117]

Tons of PC games are not on Steam these days…

Okay, so your favourite store is Epic Games Store according to your other comments, we shall once again go to a quick Google search…

Games available on Steam: 73,000+
Games available on EGS: 2900+

If Steam has “tons” of PC games missing in its catalog, what would you consider EGS’s lack of games? Even GoG has over 9,000 games on it, DRM free.

 

[Felusy]

Okay, so your favourite store is Epic Games Store according to your other comments, we shall once again go to a quick Google search…

Games available on Steam: 73,000+
Games available on EGS: 2900+

If Steam has “tons” of PC games missing in its catalog, what would you consider EGS’s lack of games? Even GoG has over 9,000 games on it, DRM free.

No I use Steam mostly. Epic is just fine and cheaper + free games.

GOG is crap, they delete cloud saves all the time. Tons of users complains.

Steam is 20 years old, obviously it has more games. Epic took tons of exclusives from Steam, because developers don't want to be milked.

 

[Burty117]

Epic took tons of exclusives from Steam, because developers don't want to be milked.

Okay, let’s have a look at these “tons of exclusives” then shall we?

Good old Google search…
This one was actually tricky, because a lot of lists had games I have on Steam (Tchia for example)

So I’ll only count games that are permanently stuck on EGS, which seems to be around 20-30ish games?

Noted, your version of “tons” could be misleading, if not outright hyperbolic.

 

[Felusy]

Okay, let’s have a look at these “tons of exclusives” then shall we?

Good old Google search…
This one was actually tricky, because a lot of lists had games I have on Steam (Tchia for example)

So I’ll only count games that are permanently stuck on EGS, which seems to be around 20-30ish games?

Noted, your version of “tons” could be misleading, if not outright hyperbolic.

Alan Wake 2 is an Epic Exclusive and a top rated 2023 title. Just to name one. Why choose Epic? Because they did not want to get milked by Valve, giving them 30% when they could give Epic 12% instead.

Tons of developers are fleeing from Steam due to getting milked.

Steam will never get monopoly and should not get monopoly.

GOG is trash unless you back up your saves manually, and then you might as well just pirate. Garbage launcher.

 

[Burty117]

Alan Wake 2 is an Epic Exclusive and a top rated 2023 title. Just to name one.

So sorry, hold on, you’re whittling down “tons” of games to just one? I was going to list 30 odd games but your version of “tons” of games missing is Alan Wake 2?

 

[Felusy]

So sorry, hold on, you’re whittling down “tons” of games to just one? I was going to list 30 odd games but your version of “tons” of games missing is Alan Wake 2?

There's tons yeah. Go find them yourself. Steam lost monopoly a long time ago and tons of developers pulled their games due to being milked.

 

[Burty117]

There's tons yeah. Go find them yourself. Steam lost monopoly a long time ago and tons of developers pulled their games due to being milked.

I did go find them myself, there’s somewhere between 20-30 games that are exclusive to EGS, that’s “tons” is it?