Canonical is making it easier for ARM64 Ubuntu users like those on the NVIDIA DGX Spark to do a bit of gaming with Steam. Canonical engineers have assembled a Steam Snap for 64-bit ARM that comes complete with the FEX emulator for running Windows/Linux x86-based games on ARM64 Linux.
Following quiet testing in recent weeks, today Canonical engineer Mitchell Augustin announced the ARM64 Steam Snap as well as an ARM64 version of the gaming-graphics “gaming-graphics-core24” Snap.
Similar to how Valve will use FEX-Emu for running Windows/Linux x86/x86_64 games on the Snapdragon-powered Steam Frame, the Steam Snap ARM64 is also bundling that Valve-sponsored emulator.
Most of the Steam Snap ARM64 testing has been done from the NVIDIA DGX Spark with the NVIDIA 580 series binary driver.
Those testing have found decent performance with the Steam Snap ARM64 to handle games like Cyberpunk 2077, Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, Marvel Cosmic Invasion, and others.
More details on the Steam Snap for ARM64 via the Ubuntu Discourse.
Looks like I’ll need to try that on the Snapdragon X1 Elite and Dell Pro Max GB10 hardware. In fact, the screenshots in this article are of this new Steam Snap already up and running on the Dell Pro Max GB10… Stay tuned.
