Valve has been a big proponent of Linux gaming, and now the company is investing in Android support on Linux. It’s already possible to run Android in a Linux container through Waydroid, but Valve has developed a new fork – and it has officially named it Lepton.
Last month, news broke that Valve would soon support Android games on Steam. This was thanks to a sighting in Steam app changelogs for Walkabout Mini Golf, which added an APK file. The VR title is currently available on the Meta Quest (which runs on a custom version of Android), and may run through the Lepton compatibility layer for Valve’s upcoming Steam Frame VR headset, which runs the company’s Linux-based operating system, SteamOS.
Is its code name bigmode?
Whyyyyy is so cuuute! 🐸
A lot of people here missing the bigger picture:
This could be the start for a Valve-backed Linux phone.
That’s a fun fantasy, but this is almost certainly a way to get Oculus games running on the Steam Frame.
They’re 100% coming for Oculus’ lunch with this one.
Agreed. I run UBTouch on my phone. Waydroid is cool and all, but that’s not Valves market. I’m sure they would love to be the store behind every mobile game sale of flappy bird. But that would be one hell of a side quest to try and take over Mobile game sales.
I don’t think even Meta is eating Oculus’s lunch… Making big losses on the Quest iirc.
I didn’t really want a full PC on my face. I just wanted cheap streaming from my actual PC. Quest is actually really good for this, but it would have been nice to have something affordable that wasn’t from Meta.
I’d literally pay double to not have it come from Meta.
I’m thinking it’ll be closer to three times.
Android on linux phones is already a pretty well-done thing. It’s the generic Linux kernel on mobile processors that lacks proper radio drivers and low-power states.
It’s at least settings things up for a real Steam Mobile, rather than it being a companion app for PC. I’ve been on the Valve Phone hype train since the Steam Frame information came out. Most companies wouldn’t do it, but I know Valve does a lot of things just because the employees wanted something and they ended up making it a product. I could easily see that happening with a phone.
I’m sure there are reasons but it’s always seemed like a lost opportunity that the Steam app doesn’t work as an app store for mobile games on phones.
I wouldn’t mind a Steam Whistle, if it lets me have privacy and security.
There’s absolutely no world in which Valve releases a Linux phone.
I’d love to be wrong, but given how Valve works, their team size, and simply what works well and what doesn’t on SteamOS, I can assure you their software engineers would take one look at modem drivers and DRM for media and nope right out of any phone project.
Isn’t steam frame basically a phone strapped to your face? It’s arm based, it has a battery, speakers, microphones, cameras, radio, a screen (even two)… all it needs is a GSM module. Software would probably be the biggest issue but that’s where linux and all the compatibility stuff Valve has been working on comes in. If it wasn’t marketed strictly as a phone but a PC in your pocket I think it could work. Sadly, you’re probably right tho.
I love my Deck. If they release a variant with LTE modem (not even 5G) and no controllers, I don’t care how thick it is, make it on the same AMD SoC!
My god this. I can’t count the number of times I’ve thought “I wish I could buy a steam deck with the controllers ripped off”. At a point, I’d take that and then a cheap nokia flip phone that can do wifi-hotspot and call it a day. Separate all the bs I do on my phone from the calling and texting part.
Check out Legion Go. It has Switch-like removable controllers. Not my choice of device but maybe you’ll like it.
I do like the look of that form factor a lot… And I don’t see any major red flags in the specs that make me think it won’t work with Linux… Thanks!
Bigger trouble would be having to deal with the carriers… Dealing with the carriers is going to be a huge PITA.
Please Gaben, let this be true.
Interesting
So you’re telling me my daughter is gonna be able to play roblox on my Linux laptop soon? Thanks, but no thanks. PS: I know about vinegar.
Now they should make their own compatibility layer to run Windows games on Android.
That already exists, look up winlator. It’s just that the overhead is god awful.
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Close! Fex is an x86 -> ARM emulator that runs on ARM Linux, not Android.
With this and the proton compatibility layer, you could, theoretically, run Windows x86 applications on a Linux phone.
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Yeah… maybe this could actually make Linux phones more usable if they had easy access to Android apps.
But Valve’s real play here is getting Oculus games running on the Steam Frame. Anything else is just a nice side-effect.
I look forward to muon, neutrino, perhaps tachyon, though that last one may have already happened.
Man, it’s going to be forever until we get boson.
That’ll be a massive breakthrough.
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That’s cool because 0.00023 % of android games are not only Pay2WinMoneyGrabGarbage.
quest native VR titles are usually android
I’m hopeful this leads to being able to play older Android games.
One of the things that sucks about Android is that as the versions march on they raise the API requirements (ostensibly for security), which leaves old games being unable to run on new devices.
I have a bunch of games purchased om Humble Bundles over the years that now just refuse to run on my Android devices as their API target level is too old.
With proper ad blocking, there are some android games that are actually playable.
And Pince, the linux cheat-engine alternative.
This is the thinking that caused the video game crash in the 80s
looking forward to my next gaming pc to run arch, with my mac connected to it as a headless chicken
I bet it would be used to play Roblox and Fortnite. Two games that are inexcusably blocked from WINE/proton.
Roblox already works that way. Check Sober. I doubt fortnite would work cause Tim Sweeney will go to great lengths to stop it
Last time I tried to set it up, I had problems logging in.
Yeah. My kids use sober all the time. It’s surprisingly clean.
I cannot possibly overstate how amazing this is, given everything else valve is doing to make compatibility layers for practically anything.
This can attack Meta’s near-monopoly on VR incredibly effectively. All those games made for the Quest? Pop 'em on either your higher-power PC, or directly on the Steam Frame, and it just works, very low effort to port, and you can squeeze more performance out of them if you’re playing tethered.
Want to use an Android app on your PC rather than your phone? Done. Linux suddenly becomes much more useful to you on its own.
Being able to run Windows applications on Linux was just the start of making Linux more usable, and giving people more choice as to what software to use, but this expands it to an even larger scale. Simultaneously, this could mean some developers make things for Android that they otherwise would have only made to run on Linux, meaning Android users get more (likely open-source) choices too.
There’s a metric fuck ton of apps that I wish I could use on Linux, but are only easily run on Android directly. (Yes, I know Waydroid is a thing, but it’s been a pain to set up and use for me and many others. Valve has been pretty good so far at making sure things “just work” as best they can.)
F*ck yesss, Waydroid for the lazy like me!
Stop censoring yourself, just say fuck
You can say
fsckin the internetAlthough, I’m not really sure
fsck yesssis a valid syntaxI also got excited. However some time ago I set up waydroid and once I got it all running smoothly I was like “what now?”
I didn’t know any app or game that I wanted to play over the games that I have on my PC.
So my question would be: what do you want to play?
I agree currently, but I’m excited about this because it creates a PC market for mobile games. This is good because mobile games have the worst MTX, but PC games normally can’t get away with this. It could (unlikely, but possible) influence them to adapt to more of the PC market style.
Yeah, most of “exciting” and impressive android games — either ports from big platform: Subnautica, Alien: Isolation, Tropico, Minecraft, Stardew Valley, Little Nightmares, Hitman, GTA, Dead Cells, etc. Or straight up accessible on all platforms: Wuwa, Genshin, PlantsVsZombies, etc.
That being said, there still a few games that I personally would’ve play somewhat natively, cause they never got a release outside of android:
- Minigore 2 (removed from play market, also doesn’t support controller/keyboard, only touchscreen, so probably a no-no)
- Subway Surfer (for nostalgia!)
- Bad piggies (supposedly ported to pc, according to wiki, but good luck finding it)
Lazors (near puzzle game, not sure about it’s fait)nevermind, actually ported and can be bought on steam- There was beta access to neat sewing puzzle game on android 5, but I can’t find it anymore, was deleted from play market it seems, would’ve play, but no luck in finding it
- Dead Space Mobile (even tho it outdated af, still, I played it back in the days, would’ve been nice to play it once more)
- Xenowerk
That probably it, tho
The only way to play galaxy on fire 2 (unironic peak) with all dlc is the android version, and my android phone can’t run it because it’s a 32bit game. So for me it’d be that.
Galaxy on Fire was so sick. That was the very first game I thought of when I read this
I used Waydroid to get Apple Music running on Linux. It worked, but it wasn’t a great experience, not least because it needed to be an older version of the app. Winapps was slightly better, but given that AM is only available as a UWP through the Windows Store, it was a pain in the arse to get running, then buggy when it was.
So these days I just play music through my phone.
Think there is an app called Cider that is apple music. It should be in your Linux app store.
Cider is ok, but doesn’t allow for lossless audio.
Not me, my kids (4 & 7). I wouldn’t play a mobile game, I just want some apps that I can’t avoid and aren’t available on desktop.
Oh my god, I can’t wait to spend 30,000 € on worthless coins inside of a click and wait game. Now on PC. I used to use the phone for that. 🥰
You’re completely missing the point of this. Oculus Quest uses an Android OS, which means every VR game released for Oculus Quest is an APK, which means there’s a version of the game already optimized for a portable VR headset that can be run with Waydroid/Lepton. Valve is making the same move they did with the Deck, we can’t convince studios to build native? Okay, we’ll run whatever version it is they have already published.
This in conjunction with Fex makes it so that they should be able to run any VR game that could possibly be run in the limited hardware, and they’re giving studios a way to release a “native” version that they already have laying around for better performance (or even to make their first release on Steam).
And let’s not forget side-loading, most games on the Quest have already leaked their APK, they don’t care too much because they’re the only Android portable VR, but because the frame is an open platform people would be able to just install those files manually very easily. So if the studios won’t do the minimal effort to bring their games to the frame the community will. I was momentarily sad when I realized that robo recall (which I own for the Oculus Quest) is not available on Steam, less sad now.
Nah, regarding to your last paragraph: I dont think it will be that easy. Atleast officially.
These arent just .APKs like on Android. Like there is the whole VR/XR part which come with their own SDKs, runtimes and so on. While there are a few (mostly opensource) apps floating around which support multiple plattforms at the same tim like Quests, Picos, Play for Dream etc most of the Quest .apks are targeting very specifically the Quest platform and its hardware/softwarestack.
I also wouldnt call them “leaks”. These are just good old pira… game preservations. Apart from a few games with extra drm measures pretty much every paid Quest game got… preserved.
There is an unofficial porting tool floating around to get Quest exclusives running on eg Pico headsets. Heres a website which tracks the working ones btw: https://ppdata.uk/?tab=OVR+Ports&sort=Updates&limit=20&page=1
But i know a … friend who told me that some of these needed some very heavy lifting on top of the already heavy lifting the dev of the porting tool did to get running.
Would be a rather stupid move of Valve if they provided all the means to just pirate Quest games on the Frame. They want to make it as easy for devs to port their games to the Frame. But thats it.
But yeah, the seafaring community will probably find ways to port the quest games unofficially rather fast since the ground work is already done.
Yeah, I was talking about the community in the last paragraph. The tool makes easier official ports and also allows unofficial ones (which works as an encouragement to studios to make the port official).
While I too believe the medium has been poisoned by all the mobile slop I think phone games can be fun, just the same way the game boy games or the DS games were fun.
There are some fun ones but sadly like all people have to go through the slop before they find a good one. I learned that if i find a good one i will try to get a few by the same publishers or devs
I very much like the games by Yiotro (they are also tracker free, some games could be familiar already)
Other specific games are HappyMall by Happy Labs which also has no trackers and Animal Camp - Healing Resort which does have trackers
But i have the unfair advantage that my app source references to exodus reports and a better privacy rating normally means the game is better (or its a game after your money that lets everything run serverside)
I feel like there was a missed opportunity to call it Androgynous or Androgynix.
