There is a group of users who are die-hard fans who wants to emulate PC games on Android devices. It can be done via a few apps, but it all boils down to Winlator. It’s technically a sandbox app that runs all your apps within a Linux virtual machine, and we can run Windows games via WINE.
While it does work, it’s actually a very tedious process that many Cantonese-speaking people call it as “mafan” 麻烦, more trouble than it’s worth. Let me just briefly go through it.
Running Winlator is basically a part-time job. You need a Snapdragon device because of the open-sourced Adreno GPU drivers, a PhD in driver settings, and a lot of tinkering just to make the games boot up.
Then, we’ll have to tinker more settings to make the game run smoothly. We’ll also need external gears like a cooler, a controller, a power bank just to play the game smoothly – and that makes your phone look more like a life-support machine than a gaming console. It’s just peak mafan.
Emulation through specific apps is… still a hit-or-miss
But there is another way. GameHub and GameNative are the answer. These two apps streamlins the whole process, making ‘plug and play’ actually feel possible – but not on all devices.
With these two apps, we can just login to our Steam account to download games directly from Steam account. We own them so there’s nothing illegal here. From what I’ve tested, a lot of games just run without any additional tinkering.
But either way, we’ll still need an external controller, a cooler, and a power bank for a better experience, though.
And that’s why I usually don’t do anything related to PC game emulation. I rather spend the money to buy a handheld gaming device like the ROG Xbox Ally X – or even the older generations of the ROG Ally or Ally X for that matter, because they’re easily repairable. There are a lot of spare parts available in case I want to replace or upgrade stuff – including the battery. Also, I don’t have to deal with Winlator or GameHub, DRM or anti-cheat. We can also install SteamOS on it if Windows is not your cup of tea. That’s what I did.
Of course, we have a review of the ROG Xbox Ally X too. Check it out down below.
Steam’s magic sauce
That leads us smoothly to the next section – Steam. We all know Steam as the platform to buy games on our PCs, but Steam has expanded to the world of gaming hardware in the past few years. We have the famous industry-defining Steam Deck that is a Nintendo Switch that plays PC games. That sparked a lot of different companies to come up with their own handheld gaming PCs like the one I have here.
Recently, Valve announced 3 new devices that are “coming soon”.
One of those devices is the Steam Frame. It’s a VR headset. Many people will immediately be uninterested since it’s a VR headset, but if we look deeper, there are a few details that will literally change the industry again, just like what they did with the Steam Deck.
First, let’s take a look at the specs. It’s running the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It’s not going to raise any eyebrows but look at another part of the Steam Frame’s website – it says “Steam Frame is a PC”.
Highlight the word “stand-alone”. That means PC games running on Steam Frame. PC games running on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
How is this possible? Well, that’s thanks a new translation layer added to Proton called FEX. But let’s backtrack a little and talk a little bit about Proton first.
Proton handles Windows to Linux translation and it works really well. Most games nowadays can just run flawlessly when we force them to run through the Proton compatibility layer. As for whichever version works, that’s a story for another time but Proton Experimental works most of the time. This is the “secret sauce for the Steam Deck’s success”. Personally, I think it is the secret sauce for both SteamOS and Linux gaining a larger install base.
Why it matters
But Steam Deck and all of these devices are running on x86-64 instruction set architecture, which is known as CISC. Back to the Steam Frame – the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is running on Arm instruction set architecture, also known as RISC.
Because of this fundamental change, there’s another layer of translation that needs to be done to convert from x86-64 to Arm – and that’s where the FEX layer comes into play.
Quoting Jeremy Selan, an engineer from Valve in an interview with PCGamer, “what FEX allows you to do is continue to run your x86 PC catalog on Arm”.
And since what Valve does is open-source, we can expect the community to port over the Proton with FEX to Android devices and we can then run games much easier on our phones – or maybe there will be a native version of Steam where we can directly download those PC games on our Android phones and tablets, then just press play and enjoy.
Now, while FEX will allow Arm devices to run x86-64 apps better, there will be a performance hit when compared to running those x86-64 apps natively. The situation could improve with future iterations of FEX, so there is definitely hope.
At the time of this recording, Valve has officially released the first build of Proton for Arm devices. It’s only going to get better moving forward – and I’m looking forward to its improvements.
What *could* come next
With this in mind, I think Valve can just release the official Steam app on Android – as in the entire Steam game client that we can browse, purchase, download, install, and play the games. That will really bring a lot of high-quality games to Android, and we don’t have to wait for official ports. I don’t know, games like DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition, yes, that’s the full name of that game, and Persona 5 would be great on mobile devices.
Of course, the GPU compatibility is still a question that’s up in the air. The reason why I bring up GPU drivers being a potential issue here is because Valve chose Snapdragon, who also has open-source GPU drivers available. Other companies like Arm Mali GPU, Samsung Xclipse, and PowerVR do not offer open-sourced drivers.
I’m not sure if the FEX translation layer actually includes GPUs or not – but either way, the future is looking bright for PC games running on our tiny smartphones. We’ll still have to strap a lot of stuff to the phone – but hey, it’s an option since we already have a phone in our pocket anyway. I just hope that some form of active cooling like the Frore AirJet makes its way to smartphones soon.
And that’s why when the Steam Frame finally drops, it’s going to save mobile gaming. We aren’t just getting a new VR headset. We’re potentially getting an ARM version of SteamOS that could turn every high-end Android tablet and phone into a legitimate portable gaming PC. Hey, many other handheld gaming devices from companies like AYN can also run Steam games too. Then, Steam will truly become the backbone of gaming in general. Sounds like a monopoly – because it is, but no one else is doing what Valve is doing.
I just hope MediaTek and Samsung are taking notes – because the ‘open-source’ era of mobile gaming is coming.
Where to buy? (Affiliate links)
- Recommended phone cooler
- Recommended controller (we always use this)
- Recommended power bank
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