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?
I know what you asked about is the Machine and Frame, but I’m super excited about the controller. I love my old steam controller I got on fire sale, but its an extremely flawed device. If they can polish that to the standard of the Deck, I’m so in, especially since you know it’ll work well on Linux with no firmware BS.
Yes, I’m definitely interested in the controller too! I only mentioned Machine and Frame because I figured those might both have an impact on Linux, but I didn’t even think about how the Steam controller may become a nice standard controller for Linux.
Definitely agree. Had a couple of them and loved some of the ideas (touchpad sticks, gyro to mouse aim, all of the Steam Input flexibility) but they never really eclipsed my rechargeable Dualshocks in terms of feeling right. Taking some of the Deck’s refinements and giving it another spin is welcome.
I’m a bit surprised that Quallcom doesn’t have a custom XR3 chip yet and Valve used the Snapgdragon8 Gen3
It will help with linux on macs for the few (including me) blokes running it
Wasn’t the issue there that there are no drivers for the specific Apple silicon hardware, so someone needs to invent them? Because we’ve had raspberry pi for ages. Software for ARM is a solved problem AFAIK.
I’m replying to you from Asahi Linux on an Apple Silicon Macbook. The drivers are definitely there!
FEX emulation of x86 on ARM CPUs has made many x86 games playable on my Macbook.
Could this somehow help…Linux phone efforts?
I thought about this but the biggest problem with Android is lack of adoption from developers of third party app stores and UnifiedPush, and similarly widespread adoption of Play Integrity API. This won’t solve those problems.
For sure.
I am excited to see more arm-based Linux devices for consumers. And the Snapdragon-based VR is exciting on that front.
It definitely won’t change anything for tomorrow or next year, but it does make me hopeful that better support is in the relatively near future.
Good points, thanks.
Yeah, there would need to be a major player investing in this route, coupled with strong integrity checks, to force banks and identity apps to make a third version of their apps.
Maybe the Arch Linux “ports” RFC will finally be of use…
Also, box64 works better in my experience when all of the depending libraries are installed properly, and they are guaranteed to be there in this scenario given that there’s the Steam runtime.
Huge win for Linux. Steam Deck was the first volley, but this hardware is an all-out assault on Windows’ gaming dominance. MS is asleep at the wheel and making worse and worse software. I’m a 20 year Windows user and I’m planning my exit. If I were a gaming executive, I would assume 5 years from now that a smaller percentage of Steam users will be on Windows than there are today. I would want a damn good reason for my company’s next game to not have full Linux support.
Microsoft will either:
- win through innovation
- win through monopolistic practices
- win through inertia
- slowly lose by having a worse product
My money is on #4. Windows will probably be the #1 desktop/laptop OS for the next 20 years, but we could enter a world where Linux and MacOS are each 10% or more of the market. Steam shows 95% Windows but that’s for a gaming-focused market.
Valve isn’t perfect. They’re still a corporation. But if every company was as evil as Valve, we would achieve near world peace. They’ve contributed amazing things to open source through heavy investment.
Valve isn’t perfect. They’re still a corporation. But if every company was as evil as Valve, we would achieve near world peace. They’ve contributed amazing things to open source through heavy investment.
It’s a privately own company, and it shows. Linux and open source just wins, because it allows to set these symbiosis with partners instead of treating everything as competition, my way-or-the-highway-style.
I’m planning my exit.
How can I help?
Embarrassingly, make a Windows 10-like OS. (More specifically, a window manager, probably.) Or have an affirmative vision for the future (non-Windows 95-derived) like Niri or (fascist-adjacent) Omarchy. 15+ years ago I booted my first distro. I ran Ubuntu with Unity on a side PC for years. Good for single screen use. I daily drove Debian for 3 months in 2018 but never got it to look more modern than Windows 2000. I never “enjoyed” it. This matches my thoughts. https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/10/deduplicating_the_desktops/
Going to try out https://www.anduinos.com/ and Zorin. Have done distro hop roulette for months and a lot of them are unsatisfying. KDE looks close to how I want but runs slow e.g. https://lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz/post/58790510
I’m big on super+arrow to move windows from one screen to another. I rarely need more than 4 active windows per display. But my big problem with tiling is that I like seeing the windows I have open at the bottom of my screen. (this was for my laptop but similar points https://lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz/post/58681232 )
My side OS on my main PC is Mint with MATE, but I also don’t gel with it. Ran it on a family PC for years and it did the job for casual use. Random gripe off the top of my head I think applies in MATE: sorting is in byte order, not in brain order. Many linuxes sort
10, 1, 2instead of1, 2, 10. MATE and Xfce (iirc) have terrible file operation handling compared to Windows or (the gold standard?) Teracopy in Windows.Every default GUI archive/extract program in Linux sucks, that I could find. I prefer Peazip but even 7z-gui (the stock one) is good. Even native windows zip support feels more pleasant. This goes back to a bazzite/omarchy philosophy of shipping software that is good, instead of defaults that suck.
Oddly enough I kind of respect AntiX + IceWM, as well as Lxqt / Lubuntu more than most of the crap modern WMs I’ve used.
SSH key exchange / setup is a fucking nightmare and I don’t know why I’m copy pasting keys into text files or piping multiple commands together for the 50% odds that my OS setup allows it. I still don’t really understand the Linux threat model where passwords on a local account make sense. (Is it to prevent local scripts from escalating to admin?)
I’ve run Linux servers for 5 years and I run WSL, but nothing clicks per se. I’m always more at home in Windows. Niri feels close to what I want, but too high a learning curve. I may make a post about it someday.
Win through innovation
Has Microsoft ever innovated?
I would call Visual Studio Code a success story for them
Don’t be such a ridiculous fucking hater you blind yourself to reality
Barring literally everything else, this steam box shares its lineage with the Xbox, not Sony or Nintendo’s products. Speaking as one who ran xbmc on their classic first-gen it’s nice to see things coming full circle to “everything is just a media center pc, bitches”.
They were innovative in hiding their money from the tax man
Windows 95, 2000/XP, and 7 were all very nice OSs. DirectX and whatever other APIs helped PC gaming. Windows Phone 8/10 are an interesting paradigm I wish still existed. The Xbox 360 blades dashboard (and later the NXE) ushered in an era we’re arguably still living in. WSL.
I’m a 20 year Windows user and I’m planning my exit.
Hear hear. I’m a 35 year DOS -> Windows user (personally and professionally) and already actively working on my exit.
I would want a damn good reason for my company’s next game to not have full Linux support.
I think I remember reading comments indicating that lots of (indie?) developers are taking the strategy of ensuring that their games work well on WINE/Proton instead of specifically developing for Linux. That makes sense economically for a small company at this point. 5 years from now will probably be a different story than now though, like you said.
The effort they are putting towards x86 emulation will definitely help the broader Linux community. I saw a bit about 24 min in on gamer nexas video. That would help down the line on all sorts of devices.
Yeah, pretty sure it was called “Fex” translation layer for emulating x86 binaries on ARM64. To me that was absolutely the biggest takeaway, because that’s a massive game-changer for eventually moving the industry away from x86 exclusivity and into wider adoption of other architectures.
Interesting, thanks!
I still love my Index, but I’m 100% buying the Frame when it comes out. I haven’t tried the Index on Desktop SteamOS yet. I should do that. The groundwork for Linux and VR has likely already been laid out.
this is the year of linux
As someone who previously owned a GameCube and a G4 Cube, I’m definitely getting the Steam
CubeMachine.People have already started calling the Steam Machine the “GabeCube” around the internet. :)
I prefer GabeCube
Yes but …
- no hand tracking
- no color passthrough
- no hardware upgrade
- no WebXR
- no new VR proper content
Still, it’s good obviously, not having to rely on BigTech. This was also possible before though as I pointed out in https://lemmy.ml/post/38899489/22202786 with e.g. Lynx XR1, as a rooted Android standalone HMD with no account required.
Anyway IMHO the big questions for VR on Linux more broadly is what changes upstream on KDE in terms of immersive UX? Is KDE Plasma becoming a VR graphical shell? Does it have 3D widgets? Does it impact freedesktop in any way?
I think your list is a bit too negative. Here are my comments:
- No hand tracking - hand tracking was added to the original Oculus Quest with a software update, at first as an experimental feature. They have continued to improve it over time. I don’t see why Valve won’t be able to do the same (other than probably having a much smaller team than Meta)
- No color passthrough - I was disappointed by this too. The color passthrough has led to some really interesting games on Quest, like for example, being able to fight characters superimposed over your own real environment, which to me is an amazing development. However, the Frame does have an interface that will allow for color cameras, so there is some small hope for that. Also, perhaps having monochrome passthrough wouldn’t actually impede those same games from working on Frame in the first place. Still, out of your entire list, this is the one that I agree is a serious shortcoming.
- No hardware upgrade - what do you mean by this?
- No WebXR - Where have you heard that? I haven’t seen any mention of this, but obviously there are endless sources of information about this thing. Even if so, would it be impossible to add later with a software update?
- No new VR proper content - What do you mean by this?
- sure, it’s no a hardware problem so they might support hand tracking but for now at least officially they don’t and didn’t announce they would. There are even https://github.com/Lynx-MR/LynxOrbSlam3 that could be used. For now though it’s not supported. I remember the BT control of Base Station for the LightHouse systems NOT being supported on Linux for years in fact check https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/207 it’s a 6 years old issue. Being feasible does not mean it will be done.
- yep
- CPU/GPU aren’t better than other standalones HMDs already out
- there is no WebXR support on Linux, hasn’t existed for years. Firefox never supported it, neither does Chromium. It’s been confirmed by the Google developer implementing WebXR https://bsky.app/profile/toji.dev/post/3m5hm2aysg22d
- that Valve isn’t making a new VR like Alyx
Thanks for your answers. I figure that Valve is highly motivated to get the software sorted out, but we will have to see how quickly they can overcome these issues with hand tracking and WebXR.
About the CPU/GPU, I guess they decided to be practical with all this hardware to keep it relatively affordable. As far as a new VR game, you never know. Didn’t I hear that Alyx was a surprise release with the Index headset?
One should hope, and the tinkerer community, me included, is eager for both of these features.
Regarding new content I posted https://www.uploadvr.com/valve-isnt-currently-working-on-a-new-vr-game/ countless times because to me that’s maybe the biggest bummer. I have several headsets so I don’t need “yet another one” that is roughly equivalent. I need something genuinely different. A flat SeamOS (no immersive features to KDE Plasma) is boring but understandable, no new content from the quality only Valve (unfortunately) seems to be able to produce makes me think I’m not in rush. Just like hand tracking or WebXR we can hope for surprises but it mostly shows it’s considered a thin terminal for Steam, nothing more, and I have already few of these (thanks to Alvr, Wivr, CloudXR, but also just Steam streaming).
I’m anxious for those features too. I still have to get started in VR, but I’ve been following the scene relatively closely for the last few years after trying it out.
Thanks for the link, that’s too bad to hear. I hear you that you don’t need this one if you already have other headsets. I’m in the opposite position. I have yet to get my first. I had been considering the Meta Quest 3, but Meta. The Valve Frame will very likely be my first. For someone like me, it’s nearly perfect.
yet to get my first. I had been considering the Meta Quest 3, but Meta.
Perfect then
Absolutely!
To be fair I wouldn’t buy one of those to run Linux, and it’s not a extremely hard to see why the average consumer wouldn’t want to buy this to run Linux either:
Sure, my point is mainly to distinguish what is genuinely novel versus what already exist but people might not be aware of.
I would suggest the support this has from valve that means it works great out the box does indeed make it novel.
It will move the needle far more than like 2 hobbyists flashing niche hardware. Nobody cares about that because it’s so small scale. Nobody will put in the support for that user base. Conversely the valve frame is going to be a mass market product that will be in the hands of loads of people, so issues and problems will get fixed, software will be optimised and if the install base is large enough it will be targeted with new software and features.
That’s the novelty. It’s likely going to change things.
- barely works
- never used the feature
- that’s true of existing?
- never heard of it
- ???
- criteria please, hand tracking does work even though it might not be something you like for your own usages
- there are even actual games like Laser Dance developed specifically for it
- it’s 2026 hardware?
- https://immersive-web.github.io/ feel free to ask question
- Valve did announce they are not developing VR content for it e.g. https://www.uploadvr.com/valve-isnt-currently-working-on-a-new-vr-game/
Just cause apps exist that they to use it doesn’t mean anyone uses it. Google Cardboard apps are still on the android app store, do you use that?
Because they don’t need to? Steam VR has way more VR apps than the other platforms
I genuinely don’t get your point. Popularity is not a criteria that is relevant for my needs. Your preferences are not relevant to my needs. We are different people and that’s OK.
Everyone can say the same thing… your needs are not relevant either then.
Popularity is ultimately what moves the needle, this post was asking in which direction will the needle move… so in this context your personal needs are only relevant in relation to how popular they are.
Shocking to read in a Linux thread. The entire point of free software and open source is that the need of 1, not even a market but a need, without any budget, might still be relevant and important.
Linux itself is the result of that.
The only reason Linux became a thing is because Torvalds managed to get engagement and popularity amongst a small niche community of hackers that happened to share the same needs/goals.
Because what gives it importance is the needs we share. The need of 1 becomes important when it’s the need of many. Community is a huge piece in the “open source” puzzle. A community of 1 is not a community… it’s a personal space. If you don’t share your software with a community then declaring it “open” is pointless.
Also… when I said “relevant” I specifically meant for the questions raised by OP. I’m not talking about “relevancy” in some weird transcendental way… I don’t believe such a thing exists… everything has a viewpoint from which something can be said to be “relevant”… however, as you yourself said: “your preferences are not relevant to my needs”.
Steam doesn’t win users and marketshare because of your needs. Or even hardware. It wins users because the steam library is already on the device.
Agreed but I’m not really talking about Steam here.
Are you not discussing factors to a successful foray by steam into VR?
A standalone VR headset that I don’t have to give money to the zucc to enjoy? I’m buying like 12 of these things as soon as they’ll take my money
Sorry to put you on the spot but I saw this countless time this morning after reading the news so I’m asking you :
- did you buy a Lynx XR1?
My point being that there already are standalone VR HMDs that do NOT need Meta and can be great to tinker. The example I share works, can be rooted and even run Linux proper (even though quite experimental) https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Lynx_R1_(lynx-r1)
So… it’s a nice thing to say, and yet please do not give your “money to the zucc” but also I believe that means there is something else people are missing, otherwise they’d have already made the move. I don’t mean this as a criticism, only to try to understand what that gap is.
Quite frankly, I’ve simply never heard of that. I tried one of the quests at a convention once and I was like “wait hold on, they’ve got the computer inside the headset? That’s awesome I want it” and then I learned it was Facebook so I lost interest
No worries, it’s quite niche even for XR professionals some are surprised to learn it even exists. So I’d put that on lack of communication from Lynx.
Also FWIW for Meta/Facebook one can use a headset without any account now via PrivateQuest so if bought 2nd hand, not 1 cent goes to the zucc.
Can the XR1 work as non standalone like the Frame with the receiver? That’s the advantage for me, to have more processing power when I need/want it.
Valves choices the last few years are making me more optimistic that a Linux phone ecosystem could grow and improve. Sideloading APKs on an ARM-based easy-to-use linux system? Nice! It is possible using Waydroid etc today, but it is not very polished.
I’ll drop what I said about this in another thread:
I think you probably need to understand the underpinnings of what Valve accomplished over the past few years to understand why the Frame is useful.
Essentially, it’s a Deck strapped to your face. Same OS, same everything, just different hardware platform.
Valve spent the time to revamp SteamOS in order to make it more portable to various devices, which are now launching. Couple that with their efforts on Proton, and you have an entire ecosystem with very little in the way of preventing people from adopting these devices with their ease of use.
Steam Deck was just sort of the appetizer and test launch to gauge interest and build a fully functional hardware development and support vertical in the company, and it was wildly successful. I guarantee (if they can get the price right) that the Frame will sell WAY more units than the awful Vision Pro. I honestly think people might adopt this over buying another version of the Deck if it’s comfortable.
Some things I expect to happen with the Frame launch:
- A more expanded integration of Desktop features. If Valve doesn’t do it, the community will.
- Virtual screen management
- Theater mode for viewing media
- Virtualized VR input (like steam-input but VR)
- Pairing capabilities for multiplayer
- Half-Life 3 release (not joking)
Half-Life 3 release (not joking)
Sadly not, at least not VR first, cf https://www.uploadvr.com/valve-isnt-currently-working-on-a-new-vr-game/
Half-Life 3 release (not joking)
…. and all your credibility is gone.
You don’t read much, eh? Valve has confirmed it, people have seen it, and multiple artists and devs have confirmed working on the finishing touches in the past year.
They released Alyx with the Valve Index, which also confirmed to be a drop-in VR engine for the Half-Life games. Valve likes releasing their IP games as surprises, and no better way to sell out millions of units than releasing HL3 along with this new hardware.
Seems like a pretty safe bet.
That makes a lot of sense to me. I didn’t realize that there was already evidence for a new Half-Life existing out there.
But, what’s the user experience playing the MYST humble bundle on it?
Well it’s not going to suddenly be all VR’d up or anything 🤣
Part of the reason I would imaging they implementing a new kind of steam-input layer for VR is for things like a theater mode and desktop. I could see them making some sort of a simple hook for view controls in games for your exact scenario, but that would be heavily dependent on the game having something like free look already be possible, and then the developers just write a quick patch of a couple lines to hook the steam-vr-input hook into their code, and BAM.
I’m just wondering about basic functionality - can it play through without a crash or is it still Windows only for a smooth UX?
99% of all Windows games running Proton, and most perform better than on Windows, depending othe game.
For the specific games you mentioned, they all have Platinum rating in Proton, meaning flawless. You can see here in ProtonDB.
I’m not sure what your experience was in the past, but I write tons of Proton patches for games, and the only ones I’ve seen that don’t play well are the pre-DirectX9 games, which can’t plan on Windows XP or later anyway. Proton will soon be able to play these games without issue thanks to some Vulkan patches coming up.
like steam-input but VR
That’s already a thing, I saw a video of someone streaming a VR game to a Quest 3 via Steam Link and using it to map hand gestures to regular VR controller actions, allowing him to play games with no hand tracking support controller-free
That’s slightly different. That is mapping controllers to already existing inputs for a game, which steam-input already does.
Mapping all the sensors of a VR headset for motion and tracking is an entirely different thing, though kinda similar in some sense.
Interesting comments, thanks!
I fully agree that this will sell way more than Vision Pro. I think this is pretty much guaranteed. The highest price I’ve seen estimated for the Frame is $1200, so it will much cheaper and much more versatile.
I also think that Theater mode for media is pretty much a guarantee at release, given that they’ve already demoed playing regular non-VR games in Theater mode.
I’ve also seen some mentions of Linux desktop on it, but haven’t seen any concrete details about it.
Desktop is a built-in feature of SteamOS. They’d have to actually work to remove that by default. No reason for it not to be there.
Yeah, but I don’t think KDE has VR capabilities. So it’ll be interesting to see how that’ll work. They mentioned the ability of opening desktop applications in VR. So I think you’ll be able to position those in space.
It wouldn’t need to. They would just need to include a virtual desktop manager or interface to render the usual compositor in a VR sort of way. That’s why I put it in the list. Same thing that would make a theater mode would also allow a desktop to render in a space on a VR compositor.
They’re releasing an SDK, which most likely will include a linux compatibility. Windowing desktops may not be the right starting point for a VR desktop, but hopefully some of the teams will grab the developers kit and consideration VR centric ways of working with applications.
Not sure you’re getting it…
SteamOS runs KDE desktop. Frame will also have KDE Desktop, be use it’s just running the ARM build of the same SteamOS that will be on all of these devices.
Making a VR-reaey compositor display for this is fairly simple after this point, you just need to hook all the sensors into camera movement for the screen, and that screen can show many composite views…like the desktop, or a media screen, or the Steam Library.
It’s a basic function of VDD. It will definitely be in there.
I tuink that I understand what steam is selking, but I don’t think that a windowed wm is ideal as a desktop with VR. I get that we are takking about a computer strapped to your head.
The karousel guy could take a stab at it, but if Steam releases a dev kit, then any team could try developing a wm with workflows that are designed around a VR interface.
Yeah, I can understand that. I had heard that Steam Deck had a desktop feature built-in. Some of the videos and articles about the Machine have shown and mentioned desktop apps and KDE, but not regarding the Frame, so I wasn’t sure, especially considering that Frame will be using a different hardware architecture.
To be fair, I think they’re slightly different markets.
The AVP is a “Productivity” device and seems more focused on “Mixed Reality” use with it’s super high quality passthrough and what not, vs the Frame which is more focused on gaming, has black and white passthrough and (I’m assuming) no Real World mapping so you can’t have floating windows that stay where you put them in your physical space for example.That being said I think more sales than the AVP is a guarantee, on the price alone.
If anything, the real question is if that “VR Productivity” market that Apple is targeting really exists. (didn’t the HoloLens fail?)That’s true about them being different markets and also the comparison to HoloLens!
Where have you heard that Frame won’t have Real World mapping?
That was just an assumption, I should probably make that clearer on my comment.
Got it, thanks for the clarification. I would be surprised if any VR headset with inside-out tracking wouldn’t have real world mapping today, but we’ll see!
They also have been tapping Code weavers or just serendipity but there is a lot of movement on the open source x86 to arm translation space too. Which for games on VR headsets is a big deal. https://www.codeweavers.com/blog/mjohnson/2025/11/6/twist-our-arm64-heres-the-latest-crossover-preview
They’ve already said they’ll be using FEX: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/vr-hardware/steamos-launching-for-arm-fex-translation-layer/
Steam Machine
If the Steam Machine really takes off, I see way more people moving to Linux on their main rigs and laptops, and in turn making companies stop ignoring it, if it becomes a massive success I imagine:
- Mainstream games like FIFA supporting Linux
- Apps like Affinity Studio being distributed through Steam officially supported via Proton.
- Epic games will be the last company to keep ignoring Linux.
- Valve adopting Waydroid for SteamOS (for Netflix, Spotify, YouTube, etc)
- NVIDIA will redouble their Linux efforts.
- Greatest than ever VR support in Linux
Steam Frame
- Lots of Linux apps will work on Android desktop mode, like LibreOffice, Inkscape, etc.
- Linux phones will receive a lot more maintainers and funding.
Steam Deck
- Android apps on the Deck via Valve’s Waydroid
- Steam Deck 2 on ARM
Other
- New use cases for ARM will motivate RISCV to speed up it’s growth.
- KDE & Arch will receive more funding from Valve
- More contributions to the Kernel
- More Linux developers
- Increased security for Linux
- Flathub will grow
