Valve is testing Steam games on ARM

Steam DB has uncovered a hidden program developed by Valve with reference to reports of “proton-arm64”. Check notebookProton is a Wine-based tool that allows Steam OS and thus Steam Deck to run standard PC games developed for Windows.

ValveTestApp3043620 contains a series of references to different versions of proton-arm64, which Notebookcheck interprets as different preview builds that the company is testing. Additionally, references to a number of popular games, including Left 4 Dead 2, Garry's Mod, and Shadow of Mordor, also appear in the program.

Tests suggest that Valve is developing a version of Proton that will run on ARM-based chips rather than x86-64 like Intel and AMD processors. Wine, which Proton relies on, has already been optimized for ARM since Apple started selling Macs with its own ARM-based chips.

What the ultimate goal is is unclear, but speculation is afoot. Notebookcheck speculates that a future version of the Steam Deck could use an ARM-based chipset. That could make it possible to run both Android and PC games on mobile gaming.

Another possibility is that it could be the long-rumored VR headset Valve is developing. Another explanation could be that Valve is planning to release Proton as a standalone software for Mac and Linux on ARM.