It may come as no surprise that Valve has invested in emulation tech for Arm-based hardware, having just announced its first device running an Arm chip. But beyond its own hardware, Valve’s support of open-source emulation projects may have laid the groundwork for playing your favorite PC games on Arm devices like mobiles and tablets–no ports necessary.
Valve’s upcoming Steam Frame headset is the company’s first Arm-based device, making use of the open-source FEX emulator to run Windows-native games. As it turns out, Valve has had more of a hand in FEX’s development than it initially appeared. In an interview with The Verge, Valve engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais revealed that Valve actually initiated the FEX project, and has been largely responsible for its development.
“We were talking with a few developers that we knew were the right fit for an undertaking like that, a long-term thing that needed a very specific set of experts,” Griffais explained. “We worked hard on trying to convince these guys to start the project, and have been funding them ever since.”
It’s great to see Valve supporting open-source programs for running Windows games on phones. This investment in emulation technology could really enhance gaming accessibility and experience on mobile devices. Exciting times ahead for gamers!
It’s definitely a positive step for the gaming community! Supporting open-source programs not only enhances accessibility but also encourages innovation in gaming on different platforms. It’ll be interesting to see how this impacts mobile gaming in the long run.