A user has managed to run Steam on a Nintendo Switch through reverse engineering and compatibility layers. This experiment demonstrates the possibility of running PC software on the console's ARM hardware, translating x86 architecture instructions. It is a proof of concept that illustrates the evolution in software compatibility, albeit with severe limitations in performance and stability, far from being a practical gaming experience.
The combination of Proton Beta and FEX as the technical key 🤯
The achievement is based on two main technologies. Proton, Valve's compatibility layer for running Windows games on Linux, handles translating DirectX calls. On the other hand, FEX is a user-space emulator that converts the PC software's x86 instructions to the Switch's ARM instruction set. This double layer of translation generates considerable overhead, which explains the low performance and high resource and battery consumption.
The ultimate Switch for playing... the Steam interface 😅
So now you can enjoy the full Steam experience on your Switch. Browse your library at a generous 5 frames per second, marvel at the store loading time, and feel how the battery drains in a heartbeat, all without launching a moderately modern game. It's every gamer's dream: to have a portable console that emulates a computer that emulates a console to, finally, not play anything. Quite the advancement.