If you’ve been keeping tabs on the gaming world, you might have heard a whisper or two about Valve‘s latest project. It’s not a new game, nor is it a hardware upgrade for the Steam Deck. It’s something even more exciting: Valve seems to be bringing Steam to Arm-based chips.

Arm chips are becoming increasingly popular. They’re more energy-efficient, which is great for laptops and mobile devices. But gaming on Arm hasn’t been quite the same experience as on traditional x86 chips. Valve, however, is changing that.

Valve has been working on a tool called Proton for years. It’s a compatibility layer that lets Windows games run on Linux. Now, it seems, Valve is developing a version of Proton specifically for Arm chips. And it’s working on a massive number of games.

From popular titles like Left 4 Dead 2 and Shadows of Mordor to lesser-known indie games, hundreds of titles are being tested with this new Arm-based Proton. This means that in the future, you might be able to play your favorite Windows games on an Arm-powered laptop or even a smartphone.

So, what does this mean for gamers? Well, it’s a game-changer. For starters, it could make gaming on Arm devices much more appealing. Imagine being able to play high-end AAA titles on a lightweight, energy-efficient laptop.

It also opens up new possibilities for gaming on Android. Valve has hinted at support for Waydroid, which could mean that Android devices might be able to run Proton-compatible games as well. This would be a massive deal, as it would give Android gamers access to a much wider range of titles.

One question that’s been on everyone’s mind is whether Valve is planning to release its own Arm-powered gaming device. After all, the Steam Deck has been a huge success. However, it seems unlikely that Valve would release a cheaper, less powerful device alongside the Steam Deck.

Instead, it’s more likely that Valve is simply trying to improve support for Arm devices in general. This aligns with Valve’s commitment to making gaming more accessible and platform-agnostic.

The future of Arm gaming looks bright. Valve’s work on Proton for Arm is a major step forward. As more and more games become compatible with Arm chips, we can expect to see a surge in interest in Arm-powered gaming devices.