Valve and Collabora have published the first public preview of Holo Core, an AArch64 port of Arch Linux intended to underpin SteamOS on the forthcoming Steam Frame VR headset. Collabora’s July 17 announcement makes the project’s source packages, prebuilt binaries, and a development container available for developers and curious ARM Linux users.
The important caveat: Holo Core is a preview, not a general-purpose, full Arch Linux distribution. Collabora says the current package set is aimed at Steam Frame development and image creation, although that already entails several thousand packages and their build-time dependencies.
Steam Frame uses a 64-bit Arm processor, while Valve’s current SteamOS work has historically targeted x86-64 hardware such as Steam Deck. Arch Linux itself does not officially support AArch64, so Collabora says it had to build tooling and continuous-integration infrastructure to produce a reproducible Arm package tree.
That is more involved than recompiling packages. Arch’s rolling release model means dependencies and package versions continue moving while a rebuild is underway. Collabora’s tooling has to replay a valid historical build sequence, including intermediate versions of components such as Rust and the package manager stack, then establish a dependency order that can be rebuilt reliably.
The published preview is based on an Arch package-repository snapshot, with patches where packages need work to build or run on AArch64. Collabora describes the release as a proof of concept for the build and CI system rather than the endpoint.
Valve’s Steamworks documentation says its preferred route for most developers is to run Windows x86 games through Proton and FEX: Proton handles the Windows-to-Linux compatibility layer, while FEX translates x86 code for the headset’s Arm64 CPU. Valve also says the headset’s native graphics API is Vulkan.
That puts two compatibility layers between a typical Windows game build and Steam Frame hardware. A stable Arm Linux base is therefore a prerequisite for the broader software stack, not merely a distribution-porting exercise. Developers with native Android Arm64 builds have another path through Valve’s Lepton runtime, but Windows x86 remains the main compatibility target.
The current release does not mean Arch Linux has gained official upstream ARM64 support, nor does it represent a SteamOS image for arbitrary ARM PCs. Collabora says its next objective is a continuously operating CI system that tracks Arch as it changes, while working with the upstream Arch project on repeatable AArch64 builds.
For now, Steam Frame developers can use the preview to begin testing the ARM Linux foundation that Valve’s Windows-game compatibility stack will sit on.
The important caveat: Holo Core is a preview, not a general-purpose, full Arch Linux distribution. Collabora says the current package set is aimed at Steam Frame development and image creation, although that already entails several thousand packages and their build-time dependencies.
An Arch base for an ARM SteamOS device
Steam Frame uses a 64-bit Arm processor, while Valve’s current SteamOS work has historically targeted x86-64 hardware such as Steam Deck. Arch Linux itself does not officially support AArch64, so Collabora says it had to build tooling and continuous-integration infrastructure to produce a reproducible Arm package tree.That is more involved than recompiling packages. Arch’s rolling release model means dependencies and package versions continue moving while a rebuild is underway. Collabora’s tooling has to replay a valid historical build sequence, including intermediate versions of components such as Rust and the package manager stack, then establish a dependency order that can be rebuilt reliably.
The published preview is based on an Arch package-repository snapshot, with patches where packages need work to build or run on AArch64. Collabora describes the release as a proof of concept for the build and CI system rather than the endpoint.
Why Windows game developers should care
For Windows users, Holo Core is background infrastructure rather than something to install on a PC. Its relevance is that Steam Frame will run Linux on Arm hardware, yet Valve expects many games on it to remain Windows x86 titles.Valve’s Steamworks documentation says its preferred route for most developers is to run Windows x86 games through Proton and FEX: Proton handles the Windows-to-Linux compatibility layer, while FEX translates x86 code for the headset’s Arm64 CPU. Valve also says the headset’s native graphics API is Vulkan.
That puts two compatibility layers between a typical Windows game build and Steam Frame hardware. A stable Arm Linux base is therefore a prerequisite for the broader software stack, not merely a distribution-porting exercise. Developers with native Android Arm64 builds have another path through Valve’s Lepton runtime, but Windows x86 remains the main compatibility target.
Experimental, but available now
Collabora has published a container intended for package-building experiments. It can run natively on AArch64 Linux hosts; on an x86-64 Linux host, it can run under QEMU user-mode emulation with binfmt configured. The company warns that every Arm binary will be emulated in that setup, so builds can take time.The current release does not mean Arch Linux has gained official upstream ARM64 support, nor does it represent a SteamOS image for arbitrary ARM PCs. Collabora says its next objective is a continuously operating CI system that tracks Arch as it changes, while working with the upstream Arch project on repeatable AArch64 builds.
For now, Steam Frame developers can use the preview to begin testing the ARM Linux foundation that Valve’s Windows-game compatibility stack will sit on.
References
- Primary source: 9to5Linux
Published: 2026-07-18T00:10:33+00:00
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9to5linux.com - Related coverage: neowin.net
Valve releases its first Arm-based Arch Linux preview for Steam Frame - Neowin
Valve and Collabora have released the first public preview of Holo Core, the aarch64 Arch Linux port being developed for Steam Frame.
www.neowin.net
- Related coverage: collabora.com
Building an Arch Linux aarch64 port for Holo Core
Explore the Holo Core aarch64 preview, with early binaries, sources, and containers for an Arch Linux-based Arm port backed by reproducible CI tooling.www.collabora.com
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