Key Highlights:
- The Steam Frame runs SteamOS for ARM, and a translation layer known as FEX.
- FEX lets you run Windows x86 games on ARM based devices.
- This could shake things up and change PC gaming forever.
Valve announced a trifecta of products yesterday, with one of the more intriguing additions being the Steam Frame, a VR capable standalone headset. The device has wireless support, and is shaping to disrupt the space soon.
However, one of the more intriguing reveals was that the device runs on ARM (more specifically, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset), and is still capable of playing x86 based Windows games – through a special translation layer, known as FEX.
The Steam Frame Runs SteamOS for Arm, with FEX
Announcing: New @Steam Hardware, coming in 2026:
— Valve (@valvesoftware) November 12, 2025
Steam Controller
Steam Machine
Steam Frame
Watch our jazzy announcement video and wishlist now: https://t.co/TUKoZdzn9B pic.twitter.com/A355CpwcFr
Internally, the Steam Frame is running a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, along with 16 gigabytes of LPDDR5X memory and either 1 TB or 256 GB of UFS storage (with microSD card support).
The thing to note here is that the Steam Frame runs a full version of SteamOS, despite the software having being built for traditional, x86 PCs in mind. It has been repeatedly been clarified by Valve that the Steam Frame will also be able to run Windows x86 only games as well (with reasonable performance expectations for a mobile chipset, of course).
This is done with the help of a translation layer known as FEX, which converts x86 code to ARM based alternatives, and should support most games (or those without any kernel level anticheat) right out of the box.
Also Read: Valve Brings Back Steam Machines, but Will They Succeed?
The Steam Frame can also run Android apps natively, which also happens to include games. However, don’t expect official Play Store support any time soon.
While Valve has yet to mention the number of titles covered by FEX, it is expected to be somewhat competent and have feature parity with Proton (the Windows to Linux translation layer).
In other words, this means that most games should just work, and the performance hit should be a lot less noticeable than you’d expect. That being said, expect some form of performance degradation regardless, since we are dealing with very different CPU architectures here.
FEX Could Be the Future of Gaming on ARM
With the widespread adoption of ARM based solutions in modern PCs and laptops, we are on the brink of a total conversion toward ARM. ARM, while incredibly efficient does lack in a few departments, including gaming, where it just falls flat.
Valve’s FEX translation layer could be the holy grail we need, and progress has been going on at a breakneck pace.
FEX is a monumental breakthrough, and with the backing from Valve, we could, for the first time ever, see ARM based SteamOS handhelds make their way to the market. While it might be too early to see an ARM based Steam Deck 2 just yet, there still remains a very real chance of that happening.
Interestingly enough, this could also accelerate the rise of Mac gaming. FEX should be a universal binary, and it could very easily be ported over to Apple Silicon. After all, Codeweavers did roll out FEX support for macOS earlier this week, with their Crossover program.
This should make running x86 games on macOS a lot less of a hassle, positioning these machines as surprisingly capable gaming devices.
Of course, this affects all ARM based hardware – including the Snapdragon X lineup of laptop CPUs as well.
