Nintendo Switch SteamOS experiment shows slow SteamOS like UI on ARM Linux
Still a long way ahead before Switch becomes “Steam” console.
Yesterday I saw a post on X showing what looked like a SteamOS-like environment running on Nintendo Switch. I saved it to watch later, but by the time we returned, the post appeared to be gone (apparently it broke X terms), which got me curious what I missed. It took some time to find the same material again, but the user has now reposted the video on YouTube. This means we can now look at what the project actually shows.
We discussed SteamOS on Nintendo Switch a few months ago , but at the time only the menu was shown. This new video goes a step further by showing a SteamOS-style user interface simulation running on the console. No game was launched in the video, so this is not proof that SteamOS gaming works on Switch.
Not native SteamOS and not Big Picture mode
According to MaSieS4Fun, this is not Steam running in Big Picture mode. It is also not native SteamOS running on Nintendo Switch. The demo uses an adapted Gamescope session on ARM Linux to reproduce parts of the SteamOS Gaming Mode interface.
Source: MaSieS4Fun
Native SteamOS means the full operating system is built around Valve’s Steam session, Gamescope, Mesa drivers, input handling, audio, Proton, system updates and hardware profiles. A Gamescope-style UI only recreates part of the interface. It can show menus and overlays, but it does not solve the larger issues around Switch graphics drivers, Vulkan support, audio, Proton, Wine or game compatibility. In other words, it’s not fast and likely never will be this way.
UI performance leaves a lot to be desired
MaSieS4Fun is clear about the current state of the demo. “ Yes, it looks nice, but as you can see, this is very, very slow, and for an end user this is a disaster, ” he says in the video. The video shows slow menu navigation and the author also notes that audio is not working in the demo. He says Gamescope requires Vulkan 1.3 as a minimum, while the Switch Linux setup currently works with Vulkan 1.2. Adapting Gamescope to Vulkan 1.2 causes problems because parts of the SteamOS-style session depend on features that are not available.
For now, MaSieS4Fun says Lutris with per-game environment variables remains the better option for PC games on Switch Linux. Steam can be used in a desktop session, but it needs configuration and is not designed around ARM hardware in the same way it is used on PC or Steam Deck.
The reason the original Switch appears in such mods is that users found a way to jailbreak the console and run Linux on it. Switch 2 is not at that stage yet, but we hope this will be possible at some point. It would allow older hardware to run newer software, which is useful when the hardware is still capable. There is nothing worse than seeing usable hardware become obsolete only because the company behind it decides to move on. Switch is not there yet, but it may reach that point one day.
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