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.
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.