Valve has unveiled its first look at its new gaming machines, including Steam Frame, a virtual reality headset that can handle VR and non-VR games. Apparently, Steam Frame is also being used as a way to bring Android games directly to Steam users.
According to The Verge, Valve will support and encourage developers to bring Android apps to Steam. As part of this initiative, Valve will release a Steam Frame developer kit for developers who already use Android APKs for apps and VR headsets on Android phones.
“From the user’s perspective, our preference is that they don’t even have to think about it,” explains Valve engineer Jeremy Selan. “They just have their titles on Steam, they download them and hit play … They’re really VR developers who want to publish their VR content, and they’re porting a mobile VR title where they’re already familiar with how to make those APKs. They are now free to bring those to Steam, and they’ll just work on this device.”
This seamless transition from Android to Steam is possible because Steam Frame uses an Arm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, which can run the apps directly. That will allow the Android games and VR apps to be easily accessed on Steam Frame.
In addition to Steam Frame, Valve announced a Steam Machine that can bring PC games to living rooms like a console, as well as a new Steam Controller. Valve hasn’t disclosed pricing for any of its new Steam hardware yet, but hardware engineer Yazan Aldehayyat told IGN that Steam Machine will likely be competitively priced to be an affordable alternative to consoles.
“If you’re trying to make a PC that has similar features and similar performance, I think the Steam Machine is going to be a really competitive price to that and provide really good value to it,” said Aldehayyat.
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