Valve is expanding beyond Proton by integrating FEX, an x86-to-ARM instruction emulator, to support more Windows games on the Steam Frame device. The project, funded by Valve since 2018, uses advanced binary recompilation and code caching to minimize performance overhead and stuttering on ARM-based hardware.
Background
Valve's Steam Deck launched in 2022 using SteamOS (Linux-based) with Proton as its primary Windows game compatibility solution. The Steam Frame represents Valve's next handheld device, requiring broader x86 compatibility on ARM architecture.
- Source
- Ars Technica
- Published
- Sep 17, 2026 at 04:23 AM
- Score
- 7.0 / 10