Valve Could Ditch AMD and Intel CPUs in the Next Steam Machine

Valve engineers have hinted that the next generation of the company's flagship gaming systems could be powered by ARM-based processors. This includes the potential for a Steam Machine 2.

Pierre-Loup Griffais, one of the key developers behind SteamOS and Proton, didn't hesitate when asked whether Valve is considering ARM as a platform for a future "machine." His response: "Definitely, yes." According to him, the team is focused on supporting as many hardware configurations as possible, and tools like FEX, SteamOS, and Proton are serving as key catalysts to help strike the optimal balance between price and performance.

FEX is a critical piece of this puzzle. It's a translation layer that lets x86-based games run on ARM processors without any extra work from developers. In essence, it does for hardware what Proton does for operating systems—opening up the Steam library to an architecture that was once considered the domain of mobile devices and ultra-thin laptops.

Valve's first commercial ARM-based project will be the Steam Frame VR headset, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip and a custom build of SteamOS. That's where FEX will get its real-world trial run. But as the engineers have made clear, their ambitions don't stop there. That said, don't expect an imminent announcement for an ARM-based Steam Machine 2. Valve has previously noted that the current Steam Machine will remain relevant for at least a few more years, and the timeline for a refreshed model is tied to when the transition to new hardware makes sense in terms of cost, performance, and game library support.

Valve's interest in ARM makes a lot of sense: the architecture is already making inroads into PC gaming, with native ports of major titles popping up, and recent demos like Alan Wake 2 running on ARM laptops show that performance is no longer the bottleneck it once was. If the Steam Frame experiment pays off, Valve will have a ready-made ecosystem for much more affordable gaming devices—without being tied to AMD or Intel processors.

Do you think ARM systems can genuinely compete with traditional x86 gaming PCs, or is this still just a niche experiment? Drop your take in the comments.