Valve has taken a significant step in the gaming world, announcing the opening of the Steam platform to Android games. This development coincided with the company’s newly introduced Steam Frame title. It was previously reported that Steam Frame would support sideloading APKs, which are Android application files. However, Valve’s latest statement confirms that this support will officially be brought to the Steam store.

Valve competes with Meta Quest with Steam Frame: Android APK support announced

Valve officials stated to The Verge that Steam Frame will directly support APK files developers currently use for mobile devices and Meta Quest VR headsets. Meta Quest is also known to use a modified version of Android. This strategy allows games from Meta titles to be easily ported to Steam, eliminating the need for developers to spend additional time creating Steam Frame versions of their games.

Valve employee Jeremy Selan emphasized the user experience, stating that their goal is for users to “not have to worry about which game originates from which platform.” He stated that their goal is for users to download their games from Steam and start playing them directly. Selan also stated that these games will deliver excellent performance on Steam Frame. He noted that the device uses the Arm-based Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and that games will run Arm code natively. Despite this native operation, the company will continue to implement the Proton compatibility layer to further enhance the experience.

This development may not be limited to Steam Frame. Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais told The Verge that Steam Frame paves the way for SteamOS to run on a “broader range of Arm devices.” While specifically addressing laptops, Griffais added that the Arm architecture also has “great potential” for future handheld consoles.

These comments are consistent with statements Valve made at CES earlier this year. At the time, the company stated that they were “definitely interested” in an Arm-based SteamOS device (e.g., a handheld console) but “didn’t have a path to work on Arm at the time.” Steam Frame’s Arm-based architecture demonstrates that Valve has overcome this significant technological hurdle, and that different hardware awaits us in the future. What are your thoughts on Valve’s move to bring Android games to Steam?