By Imani Okafor Fact-checked by Margit Holm Published
UPDATED · Oct 25, 2026
Update, October 25, 2026: UploadVR said on September 11, 2026 that PC VR foveated rendering did not actually ship in No Man’s Sky’s Cosmos update and was listed in the patch notes early by mistake. We’ve also added a second unverified No Man’s Sky rumor and new compatibility context from Valve, Road to VR and Mixed News.
Steam Frame’s Snapdragon chip is getting real native software. Mixed News reports Valve has ported Half-Life: Alyx to ARM64, and Wube Software confirmed that Factorio 2.1 now runs natively on ARM64 Linux, Steam Frame included. No Man’s Sky keeps getting pulled into the conversation, but its 72 FPS VR claim is still unverified and its foveated rendering patch note turned out to be premature.
What we know
Mixed News reports that Valve’s September 14, 2026 Half-Life: Alyx patch notes say the game was “ported to ARM64/aarch64.” The update adds foveated rendering and depth reprojection when Alyx runs standalone. Valve told Automaton, per Mixed News, that the assets are unchanged. It’s a native ARM build, not an Android APK.
Wube announced Factorio 2.1 as stable on October 23, 2026 in Friday Facts #449, listing Steam Frame, Raspberry Pi servers and Asahi Linux as ARM64 targets. Mixed News adds the key caveat: it’s still a flat game on a virtual screen, not VR.
Everything else depends on Valve’s stack. UploadVR reported in November 2025 that Valve announced Frame as a streaming-first standalone headset running a VR version of SteamOS with an evolved Proton, able to run Linux, Windows and Android games. Many titles won’t perform well on the mobile chip, so a wireless PC dongle is included. PC Gamer reports Valve puts streaming at about 5 to 6 W versus up to about 20 W rendering locally.
Road to VR’s review says Frame can run almost any flatscreen Steam game locally, but only well-optimized ones run well due to mobile processing and thermal limits. Its rule of thumb: if a game runs well on Steam Deck, it will probably run reasonably well on Frame.
For VR, Mixed News reports Valve told developers a mobile-optimized Arm64 version, typically Android, makes sense on the headset’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Some games are now Frame standalone-only. Mixed News points to The Thrill of the Fight 2, whose Steam page says it won’t run on a Windows PC with a connected headset.
On No Man’s Sky, UploadVR reported on September 9 that Hello Games’ Cosmos patch notes listed foveated rendering for PC VR. On September 11, UploadVR updated the story: the feature hadn’t released and was listed early by accident, with a later patch planned. The game’s Steam page lists SteamVR support and GTX 1060 3GB-class minimum specs, with no mention of Steam Frame or ARM64.
What is rumored
GameGPU, a PC benchmark site, ran a headline claiming No Man’s Sky hits 72 FPS in VR on ARM64 Steam Frame hardware. We rate it grade D. We couldn’t retrieve the article, so the settings, scene, resolution, build and whether it ran standalone or streamed are unknown. GameGPU’s Steam Frame methodology is unverified, and no Valve, Hello Games or major-outlet statement backs it.
Leaker Brad Lynch (SadlyItsBradley) posted on X on September 9 that No Man’s Sky is “Steam Frame ready.” Lynch has a mixed but often accurate record on VR hardware, but this single post offers no detail, and a reply questioned whether it meant streaming or standalone. Grade D.
What we don’t know yet
Whether No Man’s Sky has any native ARM64 or standalone VR build. Steam Deck HQ and GamingOnLinux report it’s Steam Deck Verified, but that’s flatscreen play, and VR is far more demanding.
UploadVR’s author called a performant standalone version on a mobile chipset unlikely, an opinion written before the 72 FPS claim surfaced. Context also matters: vr.org reports Valve’s standalone Verified bar was cut from 90 to 72 fps. That’s secondary and unconfirmed by us, but if accurate, 72 FPS is the minimum bar, not a standout.
What it means
Alyx is a genuine standalone showcase. Factorio is great for flat sessions and battery life. For the rest of your PC VR library, expect Proton translation, possible input tweaks and Snapdragon limits, with streaming as the smarter fallback.
For No Man’s Sky, plan on streaming from a PC for now. Foveated rendering is coming in a later patch per UploadVR, and the 72 FPS claim stays in “wait and see” until Hello Games, Valve or a credible outlet shows real numbers.
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Article info
- Fact-checked by Margit Holm before publication.
- Published
How the facts were checked
- Every claim is checked by Margit Holm; anything we cannot confirm is corrected, labelled or removed.