Valve today (12 November 2025) announced their new Steam Machine (x86 CPU, 6x more powerful than Steam Deck) and Steam Frame (self-contained and PCVR streaming VR headset with ARM CPU & "FEX" translation of x86 to ARM) to be released in early 2026. No prices yet.
I'm trying to speculate what effects this will have on the wider Linux ecosystem. Both devices will be running Steam OS and be open so you can run any OS.
First, I've read many people state that the Steam Deck considerably increased the number of devices running Linux, so it seems to me that these two new devices will accelerate that trend.
Second, it seems to me that the Steam Frame will significantly increase VR use and development for Linux.
Third, I wonder what the implications of Frame's x86 to arm translation layer (based on FEX, an open source project that I only learned about today) as well as Android compatibility (they state it can sideload Android APKs) will be. Could this somehow help either Linux on Apple silicon or Linux phone efforts? I'm very unfamiliar with what's going on with either of these efforts, so I may be way out on a limb here.
What do you think about all this?
Not a video of a Valve employee, but I've read at least a couple articles now quoting Valve as saying it will support Android APKs, although I can imagine that this kind of thing could easily be misinterpreted due to some technical detail. This article mentions it: https://www.theverge.com/news/818672/valve-android-apps-steam-frame
Valve says the Steam Frame can use the same Android APKs developers already use to bring their apps to phones and Android-based VR headsets such as the Meta Quest — and it’s launching a Steam Frame developer kit program to help put the hardware in developers’ hands.
It sounds like Valve is specifically hoping to attract some of those Meta VR game developers, rather than just any kind of Android app you might find on a tablet or phone. “They’re really VR developers who want to publish their VR content, and they’re porting a mobile VR title where they’re already familiar with how to make those APKs,” says Selan. “They are now free to bring those to Steam, and they’ll just work on this device.”
The actual quote mentions porting, and the non-quote claims they're saying "same Android APKs". It definitely sounds like it could be a misinterpretation of what was said, which is disappointing for a popular tech outlet like The Verge.
Edit: now this video has a Valve quote saying (at 26:03) that APKs will be sideloadable like Steam Deck apparently already does. They also say that they expect VR APKs to work if they don't use proprietary APIs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWUxObt1efQ