Valve may be working on an ARM64-based version of Steam

2024 has been an amazing year for Windows on Arm, with companies such as Adobe and Google bringing their apps over to the architecture. However, Linux users on an ARM64 architecture may have felt a bit left out in the cold in recent months. Fortunately, that may soon turn around, as it seems that Valve is working on getting its PC gaming apps up and running with ARM64 Linux devices.

Valve may be working on making Steam work with ARM64 devices

As spotted by Tom’s Hardware, Valve seems to be working on an ARM64 version of Proton. Proton is Valve’s special compatibility layer that helps get Windows games running on Linux machines without the user needing to fiddle with anything, so this is already excellent news for people who love to game using an open-source operating system.

Tom’s Hardware stated that it found “literal hundreds” of games being tested on this new ARM64 Proton layer, which includes smash hits like Left 4 Dead and Shadows of Mordor. The update also identifies games that work well with Windows on Arm.

This is already fantastic news for gamers on Linux, but it also opens up the possibility of Valve opening the doors for ARM64 Linux-based portable consoles. There’s a chance that it will develop its own ARM64 variant of the Steam Deck, but I feel it’s more likely that the company is prepping for potential Arm-powered gaming consoles. After all, Valve may soon introduce SteamOS onto other devices, so it’d make sense if the company introduced this technology to help third-party ARM64 devices that may already be in the works.

Regardless of what Valve has in store, this development is fantastic news for fans of the Arm architecture. We’ll see if Arm devices eventually become the best devices to game on.