Canonical has announced that Steam Snap for ARM64 is now stable, opening the door to playing PC titles on ARM processors such as the NVIDIA DGX Spark or Qualcomm laptops. The proposition is tempting: greater efficiency, lower price, and less heat. However, the reality behind x86 to ARM emulation is less brilliant than it seems.
x86 Emulation: the bottleneck nobody wants to see 🎮
Most games are written for the x86 architecture, not for ARM. Canonical has implemented a translation and emulation layer to make them work, but this process always reduces performance and introduces errors. Newer or more demanding titles are left out, and the experience is reduced to playing some games, sometimes, with some stuttering. The real solution would be for developers to compile natively for ARM.
The day developers remember ARM ⏳
The alternative, that studios also compile for ARM, sounds like a revolution. But in the video game industry, willingness always comes before money, not behind technology. In other words, when you see Rockstar launching GTA VI for ARM before PC, let us know. In the meantime, we'll wait patiently and enjoy those stutters with a philosophical attitude.