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.
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.
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.
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.
Interesting
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.
Bigger trouble would be having to deal with the carriers… Dealing with the carriers is going to be a huge PITA.
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.
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.
Please Gaben, let this be true.