Valve Could Be Evaluating an ARM-Compatible Version of Steam

Earlier this year, Qualcomm launched its Snapdragon X series of Arm-based processors optimized for Windows 11 PCs. Numerous leading PC manufacturers integrated these chips into their latest notebooks. However, despite Qualcomm’s claims that most Windows PC games would “just work”on Snapdragon X Elite chips via emulation, the experience of running Windows games on Snapdragon X-powered notebooks has not been entirely seamless.

Recent indications suggest that Steam, the largest digital game store for PC, may be exploring development for Arm-based PCs. An update from Valve in a test application was discovered on the third-party site SteamDB (via Tom’s Hardware) that included a listing for “proton-arm64ec-4.”This could imply that Valve is testing an Arm-based version of Proton, which is the compatibility layer that allows Windows games to run on the Linux operating system, specifically tailored for the Linux-based Steam Deck handheld gaming device.

The SteamDB page appears to show that Valve is experimenting with the Arm-based Proton for various PC games, such as Left 4 Dead 2, Deep Rock Galactic, and others. While it is conceivable that Valve could be assessing these titles to function on an Arm-compatible Steam Deck, it seems more probable that the company is developing a version of Steam that will operate natively on the expanding market of Arm-based Windows PCs.

As is often the case with Valve, there has been no official announcement regarding efforts to make Steam compatible with Arm-based PCs. It could be some time before any such port is disclosed, let alone made available to the public.

However, if a native Arm version of Steam is indeed in development, this may signal that Qualcomm’s push to broaden its Snapdragon chips’ presence in Windows PCs is attracting greater support from developers. This potential shift could pose challenges for major competitors like AMD and particularly Intel, which reportedly received a takeover proposal from Qualcomm recently.

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