Valve is testing ARM64 support for popular games

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Apple, macOS, Vulkan, and Gaming Support

  • Several comments lament Proton’s absence on macOS and Apple’s lack of native Vulkan, arguing this blocks high‑performance Wine/Proton (MoltenVK seen as an imperfect workaround).
  • Some say Apple “doesn’t care about gamers”; others counter that Metal, Game Porting Toolkit, controllers, Apple Arcade, and App Store games show Apple does care—just on its own terms.
  • Porting to macOS is described as technically idiosyncratic, commercially unattractive (very low sales), and frequently broken by OS changes (32‑bit removal, OpenGL deprecation).
  • A few see current Apple Silicon performance as making Macs and iOS devices finally viable for “current‑gen” games; others think the ecosystem friction still outweighs benefits.

ARM64, Emulation, and AOT Compilation

  • Discussion of whether x86→ARM64 ahead‑of‑time (AOT) recompilation is feasible: technically yes, but limited by JIT-heavy workloads (e.g., LuaJIT, Mono in Unity).
  • Rosetta 2 and Xbox back-compat are cited as examples of successful AOT plus dynamic recompilation.
  • Windows ARM64EC is explained as mixed ARM64/x64 binaries with thunks, not pure JIT.

Proton vs Native Linux Ports

  • One side argues Valve is “not serious” about Linux until most games are native and suggests store requirements like consoles.
  • Many others respond this is unrealistic: huge Windows back catalog, lost source, dead studios, and very poor historical sales for Linux ports.
  • Proton is framed as essential to Linux and Steam Deck success, enabling thousands of games that would never be ported. Some note many native ports were worse maintained than Proton versions.
  • Concern is raised that Proton reduces incentives for native ports; others see it as a necessary first step to grow the Linux user base.

Valve’s ARM64 Work and Target Platforms

  • ARM64 Proton testing is viewed as part of Valve decoupling from x86 after already decoupling from Windows via SteamOS.
  • Speculated targets include:
    • Future ARM-based Steam Deck or similar handhelds.
    • ARM Chromebooks (seen as most immediately plausible).
    • A standalone VR headset (“Deckard”), with Gorilla Tag as a hint; others think that’s overreading, given performance constraints.
    • macOS and even iOS as attractive but technically and politically harder.
  • Valve is noted to sponsor FEX (x86 emulation) and use Waydroid, hinting at broader ARM and Android-compatibility ambitions.

x86 Future and Qualcomm–Intel Speculation

  • Some argue x86 is in its last decade; others point to Intel and AMD revenues and competitiveness as evidence it will persist.
  • A long subthread debates a hypothetical Qualcomm acquisition of Intel and consequences for x86 cross‑licensing and emulation patents; conclusions remain highly speculative and contested.