Valve's Move to Test Proton Compatibility for ARM64

TapTechNews September 22nd news, Valve released an update of the test application on SteamDB on September 20th, showing that a large number of games are being tested for compatibility with the Proton compatibility layer. Interestingly, there now seems to be an ARM64 version of Proton as well, used to make Windows games run on Linux. This version of Proton, named proton-arm64ec-4, is listed as being tested for hundreds of games, including popular ones such as Left 4 Dead 2 and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.

Although Valve has not made any official statement regarding SteamOS or Proton's support for ARM64, this is clearly a priority and part of its efforts to promote the overall development of Linux games. Now Valve seems to want to expand its Linux game audience from being limited to x86 hardware to LinuxArm devices, in line with the ongoing efforts to improve WindowsforArm games.

In addition, TapTechNews noticed that there are also some mentions of Waydroid, meaning that even AndroidArm devices may get Proton support, which will undoubtedly significantly expand its audience.

Considering that Arm games on Windows are in the early stages, Valve's development of the Arm version of Proton also poses some interesting long-term questions for existing Arm devices. For now, a large number of games that have been confirmed to be playable on Arm versions of Windows have been listed as being tested by Valve in these SteamDB changes.