Valve today (12 November 2025) announced their new Steam Machine (x86 CPU, 6x more powerful than Steam Deck) and Steam Frame (self-contained and PCVR streaming VR headset with ARM CPU & “FEX” translation of x86 to ARM) to be released in early 2026. No prices yet.

I’m trying to speculate what effects this will have on the wider Linux ecosystem. Both devices will be running Steam OS and be open so you can run any OS.

First, I’ve read many people state that the Steam Deck considerably increased the number of devices running Linux, so it seems to me that these two new devices will accelerate that trend.

Second, it seems to me that the Steam Frame will significantly increase VR use and development for Linux.

Third, I wonder what the implications of Frame’s x86 to arm translation layer (based on FEX, an open source project that I only learned about today) as well as Android compatibility (they state it can sideload Android APKs) will be. Could this somehow help either Linux on Apple silicon or Linux phone efforts? I’m very unfamiliar with what’s going on with either of these efforts, so I may be way out on a limb here.

What do you think about all this?

Edit: this article may prompt some additional thoughts with its discussion of the openness of the Frame - https://www.uploadvr.com/valve-steam-frame-catalog-whole-compatible/

  • Cricket [he/him]@lemmy.zipOP
    1·
    4 days ago

    I think your list is a bit too negative. Here are my comments:

    • No hand tracking - hand tracking was added to the original Oculus Quest with a software update, at first as an experimental feature. They have continued to improve it over time. I don’t see why Valve won’t be able to do the same (other than probably having a much smaller team than Meta)
    • No color passthrough - I was disappointed by this too. The color passthrough has led to some really interesting games on Quest, like for example, being able to fight characters superimposed over your own real environment, which to me is an amazing development. However, the Frame does have an interface that will allow for color cameras, so there is some small hope for that. Also, perhaps having monochrome passthrough wouldn’t actually impede those same games from working on Frame in the first place. Still, out of your entire list, this is the one that I agree is a serious shortcoming.
    • No hardware upgrade - what do you mean by this?
    • No WebXR - Where have you heard that? I haven’t seen any mention of this, but obviously there are endless sources of information about this thing. Even if so, would it be impossible to add later with a software update?
    • No new VR proper content - What do you mean by this?
    • utopiah@lemmy.ml
      1·
      1 day ago
      • sure, it’s no a hardware problem so they might support hand tracking but for now at least officially they don’t and didn’t announce they would. There are even https://github.com/Lynx-MR/LynxOrbSlam3 that could be used. For now though it’s not supported. I remember the BT control of Base Station for the LightHouse systems NOT being supported on Linux for years in fact check https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/207 it’s a 6 years old issue. Being feasible does not mean it will be done.
      • yep
      • CPU/GPU aren’t better than other standalones HMDs already out
      • there is no WebXR support on Linux, hasn’t existed for years. Firefox never supported it, neither does Chromium. It’s been confirmed by the Google developer implementing WebXR https://bsky.app/profile/toji.dev/post/3m5hm2aysg22d
      • that Valve isn’t making a new VR like Alyx
      • Cricket [he/him]@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
        1·
        5 hours ago

        Thanks for your answers. I figure that Valve is highly motivated to get the software sorted out, but we will have to see how quickly they can overcome these issues with hand tracking and WebXR.

        About the CPU/GPU, I guess they decided to be practical with all this hardware to keep it relatively affordable. As far as a new VR game, you never know. Didn’t I hear that Alyx was a surprise release with the Index headset?

        • utopiah@lemmy.ml
          1·
          5 hours ago

          One should hope, and the tinkerer community, me included, is eager for both of these features.

          Regarding new content I posted https://www.uploadvr.com/valve-isnt-currently-working-on-a-new-vr-game/ countless times because to me that’s maybe the biggest bummer. I have several headsets so I don’t need “yet another one” that is roughly equivalent. I need something genuinely different. A flat SeamOS (no immersive features to KDE Plasma) is boring but understandable, no new content from the quality only Valve (unfortunately) seems to be able to produce makes me think I’m not in rush. Just like hand tracking or WebXR we can hope for surprises but it mostly shows it’s considered a thin terminal for Steam, nothing more, and I have already few of these (thanks to Alvr, Wivr, CloudXR, but also just Steam streaming).