This problem is far more difficult to solve than x64 windows apps running on x64 linux.
While x64 and ARM are both turing complete and thus anything one can do, the other can also do, there can be subtle differences to the way they do them.
Like one I’m aware of is the atomicity of loading memory using a co-processor register, which is required for accessing thread local storage, and introduces a subtle race condition if someone uses user mode multithreading (which can be way faster than kernel mode multithreading) without handling the case where they get preempted between moving that register’s value and doing the load, and end up running on a different kernel thread when they get back (because you need one kernel thread per core). That thread would end up with the pointer for another thread’s thread local storage, which tends to break things pretty badly.
That’s just one that I’m aware of. There’s probably tons of other subtle differences that mean you can’t just have a map of “x in x64 means y in ARM” and use that to generate a compatible binary. It would probably run, but it would have bugs that the original doesn’t that are only seen in rare edge cases.
Not that I want to discourage this effort, but this is a problem an order of magnitude or two more difficult than the one proton solved, which was essentially just a bunch of wrappers that convert one API or OS behaviour to another equivalent one.
I understand the technical challenges with running x86 apps on arm… but multiple wrappers that do something similar to proton have already been released.
If you follow the r/emulationonandroid subreddit, they have gotten PC games working on android for a while now. One of the wrappers, gamehub, has made it to the playstore. You can just sign in to your steam account (don’t do that gamehub is sketchy af, proprietary, and by a company that stole gpl code fro, yuzu and didn’t release a derivative product), download games, and play them.
The current concern is performance, but most lower and midrange games run just fine.
Yeah, a lot of programs will likely run fine. The common issues will be solved. But the subtle ones will be frustrating. Plus I worry about a situation where apps target x64 and run on ARM but aren’t supported on ARM, kinda like what we’ve got with games on linux right now.
If they get this working well, next deck is gonna be ARM for sure.
Valve is dropping a wrench in microsoft gaming monopoly. And I fucking love the sound of it.
ARMs Race
So, when Proton came out, and Windows games Just Worked on Linux, a lot of developers gave up making or maintaining native Linux versions of games, and the way you make games for Linux is make them for Windows and run them in Proton.
Are we now going to make games for Windows x86 and run them in Proton, on ARM? And are we going to get to a point where we start actually making games for the hardware and OS we play them on, or are we just stuck with compatibility lasagna?
garfield i told you to get off git
When devs switch their development PCs to ARM, you will also start seeing ARM native versions. It is the same with Linux and Proton.
Gamedev here: For non-indie projects it’s not up to the devs to decide which platforms get a native build. That decision is made by the publisher, and usually depends strongly on the estimated amount of extra work needed to make a native version. I agree with your statement, that if devs use ARM development PCs, they get a strong argument to convince publishers to pay for a native version, because porting costs will drop to near-zero.
However (there always is a “however”): Many devs cannot switch away from Windows. If one develops for PC only, it’s possible. If one targets other platforms too (think: game consoles), one is stuck with whatever development environment the manufacturers of those platforms support - what is typically Windows and Visual Studio. It is kind of a chicken-and-egg problem. Platform SDKs will be made available for other operating systems or processor architectures once enough gamedevs are using those. Gamedevs cannot yet use those because platform SDKs aren’t available for them…
It’s, to be honest, a frustrating experience… I personally would switch away from MSVC and Windows the moment I get an opportunity to. However, there never was an opportunity up to now… Our previous tech-director was pushing for Linux on dev machines - or rather: “let the devs use whatever they want, as long as it works” - but there never was an opportunity to switch, due to our games’ target platforms allowing only Windows for development…
I’m not so sure. Like I say, we saw several studios say “Well since Proton works so well, we’re going to stop supporting a separate Linux version. Linux users are to install the Windows version under Proton, and we’ll only support that.” Because almost all player communities are mostly Windows. As much as us Linux nerds hate it, we’re a small (but rapidly growing!) minority, and developers would rather support the thing most people use and just ladle what everyone else is drinking into a sippy cup for the special kids than have to make a whole separate jug of kool aid. I don’t think we’ll see a reversal in that until Linux-based platforms represent an actual majority of the install base and do so for awhile. Nothing is more permanent than a bodge job that works for now. Not to call Proton a “bodge job” but you know what I mean.
ARM is yet another leap, possibly a farther one, than Linux.
Linux market share is still very small, so it makes perfect sense that devs make their games for Windows: they get Linux compatibility for free. Developing a native Linux build requires extra investment for next to no return. There are lots of bad Linux ports that run much worse than the Windows build running through Proton.
Larian released a Steam Deck optimised build of Baldur’s Gate 3, but only because one of their devs really wanted to make it happen and most companies don’t work like Larian.
If Windows market share was <30% then maybe the economic incentives would be the other way around, but there would need to be a project like Proton that lets Linux games work on Windows.
I think there point is that Linux support hasn’t really increased Linux native games. It’s possible it’s even hurt it as they can just develop for one platform - windows.
The same roadblock has existed for ARM PCs as Linux PC - the mountain of legacy stuff that only runs on x86 Windows. Which is something Steam’s Proton has directly addressed.
Now that they’ve wrapped legacy software in an OS compatibility layer (Wine/Proton) and that is being wrapped in an instruction set compatibility layer (FEX) that mountain of software is ready to roll!
Best part is, valve’s contributions are virtually all being pushed upstream, meaning unrelated projects will all benefit from the work.
2026 - Year of the
LinuxReactOS desktop!I love ReactOS I just want something as stable as XP
Valve has been secretly funding Fex, an open-source project to bring Windows games to ARM, for almost a decade
In this age of leaks and industry insider speculation I’m very impressed they’ve kept this under wraps for so long
I find this very possible that they kept it hidden for so long. After all, Valve has been very tight on leaks for very long. Guess that HL2 dev build leak taught them a fair lot in how to protect their business from leaking info.
They have not. I can‘t provide you the link, but it was long speculated that they are working on an ARM device. Also you cannot really hide activity in an open source project. It was just not officially communicated that these changes have been funded by Valve.
You cant hide the activity but you can hide the contributors and/or the funding.
Sure it’s been speculated, but if there were obvious signs like commits in the fex repos by valve employees then wouldn’t there have been more than speculation?
Also you cannot really hide activity in an open source project.
You could, if the person was not known to work for the company.
I knew they were finding FEX… But for a decade!? Holy
2015 is now a decade ago 🤷
Stuff like this is the main reason why I only buy from Steam if I can help it. GOG has a noble anti-DRM goal, but Valve is doing a lot more stuff that matters. Besides, I count Steam’s apathy towards their own easily-bypassed DRM as effectively DRM-free at this point, and as far as I understand Steam’s DRM is also voluntary for game devs to use.
GOG does game preservation, which is nice.
I wish they’d align more at least on the Linux issue. What’s the use of preserving games for an OS that’s not going to last? It seems antithetical to their goals. Meanwhile, Wine and the rest of the Linux emulation components are also doing real work for preserving games by just making their original releases continue to work on modern operating systems through translation layers. My guess is GOG is waiting for gaming on Linux to be “worth it” before devoting their time and effort into it, which is basically just being a fair-weather friend and not actually helping.
They do the good that they do. Is there a minimal amount of good one must do to be promoted from “fair-weather friend”? GOG is not a behemoth like Valve, they have to pick their fights more carefully. Also, they are preserving the games for the vast majority of people, on the platform those games were designed for. And since Proton/Wine progress is going well, the games are by extension preserved on other OSes.
I would say the bare minimum is supporting their game client on Linux. They don’t need to be supporting project developments like Valve, but at least giving a token gesture that they recognize and are doing their part for this issue would be a nice gesture to the gamers who feel that anti-DRM/game preservation and a future with Linux are very correlated - regardless of Linux’s present-day state. By not having their game client available on Linux they have actively hindered the growth of Linux, and only through Valve’s support are we getting closer to that future (as well as the Linux community who have eventually made their own GOG clients due to the lack of official support).
They have been making a willful choice to not use any of their money to support Linux, which has been clear for many years by the GOG users overwhelmingly asking for Linux support to no avail. Their Linux game installers are the bare minimum of using someone else’s setup installer. I’m saying that if I’m going to be giving money to somebody, I’d rather give it to a company that’s doing more with it and seems to have a stronger belief in actually making the effort to achieve this future instead of waiting for it to happen by someone else’s hand.
The thing is, long time ago when GOG was relatively new, they did actually support Linux. And they stopped doing so with the new client.
You are free to support or not support whoever you see fit. If supporting Linux is hard requirement for you, so be it. But in my personal opinion, they do deserve support, in the very least because they sell most of their games DRM-free, giving consumer the ability to keep their games forever.
They have been making a willful choice to not use any of their money to support Linux
I believe they give Heroic Launcher affiliate links (so if you buy GOG games via Heroic then they get a cut) so they are giving a small amount of their money to support Linux. What they’re not giving is any time/effort.
Isn’t GOG part of CD Projekt? Not a behemoth like Valve, but not a small fish either.
In comparison to Valve, even entire CD Projekt Red is tiny.
Me too. If GOG would support Linux, I would have chosen to buy there too. Valve is actively developing on Linux related stuff and their client and software is supporting Linux. Steams DRM is not anti consumer in a way usually DRM is. It allows us to play offline in example and does not get in our way. Off course DRM free is the best case, but without official Linux support I don’t want to buy from GOG.
ARM is so hot right now.
Seriously, consumer devices are all slowly moving in that direction. Valve sees where things are going.
Have you considered adding a heatsink? Maybe a fan??
I saw some dude review a liquid cooled phone the other day. Used a piezo membrane as the pump.
i am a fan
Maybe the real fan was the ARMs we grew along the way 😻😸
A smaller handheld like the DS would be neat. Also can you imagine a Steam Phone? While it would make sense to do so, its a total another beast to develop and maintain a phone based operating system.
I want laptops with ARM processors, like Apple’s been doing, but not from Apple.
Why?
What is the difference between a phone based operating system, and a Steam deck you jam a Cellular antenna into?
The entire operating system is? I mean its like asking what the difference between Ubuntu and SteamOS is. One is optimized for a specific use case. You do a lot of other stuff with a phone. Even the controls are different from a gaming device or PC. The display is much smaller. Why don’t you think we have more phone based operating systems like Ubuntu for phones?
Arm Steamdeck? Sign me up! Arm on Linux ftw. I also have high hopes for the snapdragon x elite 2 to finally push me off macOS. Tangent on that I saw some reddit thread (yeah yeah reddit) and it mentioned that x elite 2 might support dgpus everyone said “but why though”? Well the answer is so that you can disable it and have killer battery life and then just enable it later for performance. Why wouldn’t everyone want that?
I’m guessing something about PSP sized because they have their Android Linux emulator project ongoing too
I’ve seen ARM64 in action firsthand in the new Macbooks. The energy efficiency especially is off the charts. Since battery life was the Steam Deck’s greatest flaw, chances are an ARM architecture version can squeeze a lot more juice out of the same battery size in the future.
Was is biggest flaw? Have you SEEN the other options out there for handhelds? Everyone craps on SD because it feels underpowered, and it kind of is, but watt for watt you get more performance than machines costing several times its price.
The SD is an absolute beast in its class, battery life being best in class, compared to what everyone else is doing.
Though I agree, for heavy loads, it’s not quite enough for proper mobile use. Even better battery life would be preferred, and ARM can hopefully bring that.
Oh I agree completely. There are many “more powerful” devices out there, but very few people actually prefer them if they’ve used a Steam Deck before. And its battery life is fine for what it is, but it would be awesome if it was twice as much.
Valve phone? I don’t really want an arm steam deck. It’s important to me I be able to run stuff outside of games on my deck. It’s not just a handheld, it’s a full fledged pc in a handheld body.
But if they want to make a valve phone with a Linux based os…
You do realise that the same runtime that makes x86 games work on ARM, will also work for… drumroll please… regular software too?
Uh no.
Not the kinds of things I need to be able to do. There simply isn’t the support. Taken a ridiculous amount of time to get even basic support to do the kinds of things I need to be able to do on AMD hardware.
You’ve made me most curious. What kinds of things? Low level?
Tell me you haven’t even tried Fex without telling me.
The whole point of FEX is running x86 applications on ARM. Much like WINE, it won’t be limited to games.
Valve phone? Nah. I’ll be surprised if you’re not able to run x86 Windows games using the Steam Android app though. You already can with GameNative and GameHub anyway.
I’m completely a novice at understanding this, but is ARM battery efficient because of how its executables are compiled or is it battery efficient because of ARM chip architecture? I guess my question is if you run a comparability layer like this will the ARM chips still be as efficient running x86 programs and games?
ARM is generally notorious for being power efficient but not necessarily. Won’t mean shit if your software isn’t properly optimized.
Linux on ARM is generally much more efficient than x86, yes. But also often much less powerful. Apple seems to be the only one who has cracked this code thus far to unlock high power and also incredible efficiency.
I hope they make arm Steam available for all devices and oses.
Like macos arm Windows arm And Linux armI’m confused - isn’t the Steam Frame ARM based, and using FEX? The article talks about future devices but doesn’t mention the big new device that will be using FEX in 2026?
I wonder why isn’t box86 and box64 used instead
box86 is younger than FEX i think? maybe it’s just that when they decided to fund FEX box86 didn’t exist yet?
Oh
I think the article is working off the assumption that readers already know that the Steam Frame uses ARM. Basically, it’s gonna be a testing platform for things to come.
