Valve reveals it’s the architect behind a push to bring Windows games to Arm

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

macOS, Apple Silicon, and Gaming Compatibility

  • Many commenters wish Valve’s ARM efforts would extend to macOS, enabling Proton/FEX-like support for x86 Windows games on Apple Silicon.
  • Others argue macOS already has strong x86→ARM translation (Rosetta 2, Game Porting Toolkit, CrossOver), and that the real problem is graphics APIs (Metal vs DirectX/Vulkan) and Apple’s lack of Vulkan.
  • There is concern about Apple phasing out general Rosetta 2 support and Apple’s history of deprecating technologies, killing older games and plugins.
  • Several see Apple’s priority as “games in the Mac App Store with Metal, on Apple hardware,” not “games on Mac,” making deep cooperation with Valve unlikely.

Valve’s Strategy vs Microsoft and Apple

  • Many see Valve’s long ARM investment (FEX, Proton, SteamOS, Steam Deck, Steam Frame) as a strategic hedge against Microsoft turning Windows into a locked-down, store-centric platform.
  • Valve is praised for “playing the long game”: funding open tooling so Windows games run elsewhere, rather than trying to own a proprietary walled garden.
  • Some argue that from Apple’s perspective, helping Valve build a powerful cross-platform compatibility layer on Mac would risk giving Steam a foothold that might later expand to iOS/iPad.

Anti-Cheat, Security, and Linux/Proton

  • Thread dives deeply into anti-cheat: kernel vs user-mode, remote attestation with Secure Boot/TPM, and DMA-based cheats.
  • Consensus: kernel anti-cheat and attestation can significantly raise the cost of cheating but never fully eliminate it; they also raise serious privacy and control concerns.
  • Some believe immutable, signed SteamOS images plus Secure Boot could give Linux a credible anti-cheat story, but that clashes with Linux’s culture of user freedom.

ARM, RISC‑V, and Windows on ARM

  • Discussion notes Windows on ARM has quietly become “good enough” for many workloads, but GPU drivers and gaming remain weak spots.
  • FEX can leverage metadata Microsoft added to x86 binaries for their own ARM emulation, benefiting Linux too.
  • RISC‑V is seen as promising but far from ready for high-performance gaming: immature hardware, fragmented ecosystem, and few powerful SoCs.

Linux Gaming, Proton, and Developer Incentives

  • Proton is widely viewed as transformative: most commenters now assume Windows games will “just work” on Linux/Steam Deck.
  • Some note a downside: native Linux ports have slowed or regressed because Proton is “good enough,” tying Linux compatibility more tightly to Steam.
  • Debate over whether Valve should directly fund ARM/native ports of top titles vs investing solely in generic translation layers.

Trust in Valve and Future Risks

  • Valve is lauded for consumer-friendly behavior, Linux investment, and staying private; many explicitly contrast this with public “enshittified” tech giants.
  • Others warn against idealizing Valve: it still takes a large cut, benefits from de facto market power, and could change under future leadership.