Steam

SteamOS 3.7.18 Beta "Old Enough to Vote" was released by Valve today, bringing in a few more fixes for some annoying sounding issues. In case you live under a rock we're also getting some new SteamOS systems with the Steam Frame and Steam Machine you should go and read up on.

As it's a Beta you'll need to change your system updates channel to test it, or just wait for Valve to roll it out for the next stable SteamOS Linux release. You can change it via Settings > System > System Update Channel. The most recent stable update is SteamOS 3.7.17 from early November.

To ensure games run well on Linux either via Native Linux builds or Windows games with Proton, part of the magic is in the Steam Linux Runtime. A new version of it, the Steam Linux Runtime 4.0 was recently put up with some pretty big changes.

What's the point of it? It ensures Steam and games run through Steam on Linux work properly across all the many different Linux distributions. Another secret Valve sauce for Linux. Well, not secret at all but you get my meaning I'm sure.

As we get closer to the launch of the new Steam Machine and Steam Frame, Valve put out a new Steamworks SDK that brings in libraries for linuxarm64 and android.

This is of course work more specifically for the Steam Frame, since it's using an ARM64 processor and it will support running Android APKs to hopefully get developers from other VR kits to work with it. And, as confirmed previously by The Verge, Steam itself is getting Android games to go with it.

A popular YouTube channel has attempted to recreate the Steam Machine’s expected behaviour by building a compact PC configured to mimic Valve’s leaked CPU, GPU and power limits. Their goal is to test claims such as 4K 60 FPS gaming and higher-end emulation support.

Valve’s Steam Machine is still months away from launch, but that has not stopped the enthusiast community from trying to approximate the device’s real-world performance. The YouTube channel The Phawx has taken that idea to the extreme by building a compact PC designed to behave almost exactly like Valve’s upcoming hybrid console. Rather than simply using similar parts, the channel attempts to replicate the Steam Machine’s CPU behaviour, GPU constraints, power limits and overall system architecture as closely as possible.

Valve has rolled out a new Steam client update dated November 17, and it’s already being automatically distributed to users.

The changes begin with new chat safety features. Users can now report suspicious or harassing one-on-one messages directly from the chat window by right-clicking any message. A new warning banner appears when Steam detects potentially malicious content, and links remain disabled until the user dismisses the alert.

Steam also resolves a series of client-side issues. Certain game collections that became unavailable after reinstalling Steam are now handled correctly, DLC is no longer removed during user switching, and Steam Play misconfiguration after immediate post-purchase installs has been fixed.

Valve unveiled the new Steam Machine earlier this week, and it's cute (if you're into cubes, anyway). But it's not exactly a powerhouse machine: PC Gamer hardware editor Jacob Ridley, who understands this stuff far better than I ever will, called it "fairly underpowered," noting that it rocks just a 200 watt power supply—a fraction of the PSUs in most gaming rigs. A good friend of mine, a longtime PC gamer, asked me, "Why the hell would I ever want something like this?" My answer, simply, was, "You wouldn't."

But that, according to Larian director of publishing Michael Douse (and I agree wholeheartedly on this) is entirely the point. Valve isn't coming for committed PC gamers who know what they're doing and want the lights to dim when they fire up their tabletop fusion reactors. It's gunning for people who want Steam games on the TV without any dicking around.

"Valve are probably betting on the fact that anyone who wants more demanding PC hardware on their TV is part of the audience who know how to turn any PC into a Steam Machine," Douse, always quick with a well-considered opinion, wrote on X. "Genuinely no point making a high-spec Steam Machine

Steam Machine’s upcoming release means more people will be playing games on Linux, specifically SteamOS. The idea of ditching Windows for gaming is becoming more attractive, as the Steam Machine is first-party desktop-level hardware that’s optimized for Linux-based SteamOS. The biggest hurdle for Linux gamers right now is a lack of support for many anti-cheats – particular those that require kernel-level access. But with the release of the Machine, Valve hopes game devs take notice.

Steam Machine seems to getting the most attention out of Valve’s latest hardware launches. The Steam creators announced the new console-like mini PC alongside the Steam Frame VR headset and new Steam Controller. Even the Frame runs on SteamOS, which means Valve now has a trio of first-party hardware on Linux (including the Steam Deck handheld).

TL;DR: Valve launched the Steam Frame VR headset with an Arm-based Snapdragon chip, aiming to run Half-Life: Alyx natively and streamed from PC. The new hardware features a "Frame Verified" status for optimized games, while rumors suggest two upcoming Half-Life titles supporting PC and VR cooperative play.

Valve has released Proton 10.0, a specialized version of Wine designed and tuned for gaming that allows you to play Windows titles on Linux through Steam, delivering one of the most substantial compatibility updates in recent months.

The update introduces a large batch of newly playable titles, expanding Proton’s coverage across various genres. Highlights include Mary Skelter: Nightmares, Fairy Fencer F Advent Dark Force, Far Horizon, The Crew Motorfest, Viking Rise: Valhalla, Starlight Re: Volver, Ninja Reflex: Steamworks Edition, Arken Age, and The Riftbreaker: Multiplayer Playtest.

https://www.theverge.com/news/821177/fortnite-xbox-on-pc-app-store-epic-games-play-anywhere-crew-game-pass

Valve and CodeWeavers today released Proton 10.0-3 as the newest stable update to this Wine-based software that powers Steam Play for enabling countless Windows games to run often extremely well under Linux.

Proton 10.0-3 marks another batch of Windows games now being confirmed to working well under Linux with Steam Play:

Valve only just released the latest stable SteamVR update in version 2.13, but SteamVR 2.14.1 Beta is now here as well with more tweaks and fixes.

I expect with the announcement of the new Steam Frame (and Steam Machine / Steam Controller), we're going to see a bunch more rapid updates to get SteamVR truly ready for it. Although, the Steam Deck did come in pretty hot, so it will be interesting to see if the Steam Frame launches with many issues. We have till early 2026 to find out…

The Khronos Group, the stewards of various open protocols like OpenGL, Vulkan, OpenXR and more just revealed a new tool for XR (VR / AR) developers.

What is OpenXR exactly? As The Khronos Group explain: "OpenXR is a royalty-free, open standard that provides a common set of APIs for developing XR applications that run across a wide range of AR and VR devices. This reduces the time and cost required for developers to adapt solutions to individual XR platforms while also creating a larger market of easily supported applications for device manufacturers that adopt OpenXR".

So it's the open standard for VR games to be built with, to sum it up easily for you. It's what Valve actually focus on nowadays for SteamVR.

Kernel-level anti-cheat feels like it's everywhere now, and will remain a thorn in Valve's side for the new Steam Machine powered by SteamOS Linux.

On Linux, there's no kernel-level mode available for anti-cheats like they would use on Windows. I know plenty of readers, and gamers across the net probably see it as a benefit due to privacy concerns, and that's fine - but it doesn't change what a lot of people want to play that can't.

This is something many bigger games simply don't want to pull away from including the likes of Call of Duty, Vanguard from Riot, EA Javelin for Battlefield and so on. While we do have some anti-cheat vendors that support Linux like Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye (and a few others), it's user-mode with no kernel-level and many developers really don't like that.

Resistance is futile.

Today was a big day for gamers as Valve just introduced three products: the Steam Controller, the Steam Machine, and the Steam Frame. When you add this alongside the Steam Deck, I think it's safe to say that Valve is about to win the next console generation.

Linus Tech Tips's first look of Steam Frame.

For a while now Valve have been tweaking Steam store pages, including making them a fair bit wider which is now actually live everywhere for all users.

This was originally available via the Steam Beta Client for Desktop since August, and rolled out in September on Desktop for everyone but now they've also put all the changes on the web store too not just the Steam Client. The pages have been widened from 940 pixels to now 1200 pixels, which may not be huge news but it definitely makes a difference. Especially for screenshots, since you'll see them at a higher resolution now too.

With this change the trailer / screenshot section also gained some new tricks with new viewing modes between a theatre mode and full-screen, with controls to scroll through them that's especially nice when looking over new games to just quickly tap through full screenshots directly.

Valve released the latest stable system update with SteamOS 3.7.17 now available bringing bug fixes, but also disabled wake-on-bluetooth for Steam Deck LCD.

The experimental wake-on-bluetooth support for Steam Deck LCD has been repeatedly problematic, being enabled and disabled a few times now. Hopefully Valve can figure out the issues with it soon so all users can benefit from it, as it's especially useful when docking a Steam Deck.