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Steam Is Coming to ARM64 as Ubuntu Opens Testing via Snap (linuxiac.com)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/steam@programming.dev
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Exciting news for all Linux enthusiasts betting on ARM64 architecture. Ubuntu has taken a step toward making Steam available on ARM64, opening public testing of a new Steam Snap build for ARM.

The testing initiative focuses on a Snap-packaged version of Steam designed to run on ARM64 systems, including modern ARM laptops, SBCs, and servers increasingly used as desktop replacements. For reference, until now, Steam has officially supported only x86_64 systems on Linux, leaving ARM users dependent on unofficial workarounds or entirely excluded from Valve’s ecosystem.

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[–] 7 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Steam has been in ARM64 — on the Mac. Nice to see Linux getting in on the fun as traditional PCs transition to the architecture.

Now go the other way and bring proton to Mac so we can all give Windows the finger.

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  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    That's not gonna happen. Since Mac uses a different kernel, userspace and even their own proprietary graphics API, bringing Proton to Mac would take comparable effort to developing it for Linux. That's not worth it given the small amount of Apple gamers, which is self-inflicted thanks to many bad decisions Apple has made.

    There's also the whole walled garden aspect. Getting away from Windows, just to lock yourself into the next closed ecosystem, is a terrible play. If Valve spent their efforts on this instead of focusing on improving Linux gaming, it would tarnish their image in many people's eyes.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago

    You can run MoltenVK to convert vulkan calls to metal, and if you can stack DXVK on top of that, now with FEX to bring x86 over and the existing wine for Mac we have everything we need to run windows games badly on a Mac.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Apple already has a proton alternative. It’s called their game porting toolkit.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago

    Yes, but it’s aimed at developers. Regular users can’t just load a windows game up and run it.

    We have Crossover, which is paid, and isn’t cheap. The silver lining is that they donate/contribute to WINE. So it seems like an ethical purchase at least.

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