Valve Says Steam for Linux Still Does Not Support Arm
Valve has drawn a clear line in the sand. According to VideoCardz, the company confirmed that Steam for Linux does not currently support Arm-based hardware.
The Bug Report Behind the Statement
The confirmation followed a bug report from an AYN Odin 3 handheld owner. The device runs a Qualcomm Dragonwing Q8 processor. The user ran Valve’s native ARM64 Steam client on it.
The report covered two problems: Steam Remote Play and AV1 hardware decoding. The handheld ran an ARM64 build of Fedora. It also used the public beta of the Linux ARM64 Steam client.
Why AV1 Decoding Failed
Part of the setup worked well. HEVC hardware decoding functioned properly through Video for Linux 2 (V4L2). The Qualcomm decoder also reported clear support for AV1. Even so, the Steam client never enabled the AV1 decoding interface.
Valve’s Response
A Valve employee closed the report. The employee then pointed the user to an older ticket. Valve added a short note: “Steam for Linux does not currently support Arm-based hardware.”
That older ticket is a feature request from October 2015. It asks for Steam to run on Arm systems. Its status remains open today.
Valve’s current Linux runtime requirements point the same way. They call for an x86_64 Linux kernel and an x86_64 processor.
An ARM64 Build Exists Only for Steam Frame
An ARM64 version of Steam does exist, yet it serves only the Steam Frame. Its appearance does not mean Valve will offer general support for third-party ARM Linux systems.
Valve itself has entered the Arm market with the Steam Frame headset. The device uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor based on ARM64. It runs SteamOS.
For now, Valve is focusing on compatibility for the headset. That work covers SteamOS and the Proton compatibility layer.
