January 6, 2026
Steam on the weird chips? Yup
Loongarch Improvements with Box64
Steam hits Loongarch as Box64 flexes; fans ask if RISC‑V should copy Apple’s emulation tricks
TLDR: Box64’s new release gets Linux Steam running on Arm64, RISC‑V, and Loongarch, with some rough edges. The community’s main debate: should RISC‑V add hardware tricks to speed up x86 apps, Apple-style, or stay pure and push native ports—because this could shape gaming on non‑Intel chips.
Box64 just dropped a New Year power-up and the crowd is buzzing: Steam now runs on Arm64, RISC‑V, and Loongarch. That’s the Linux Steam client, not the Windows one (though that can work too). The dev warns Box32 is still flaky, so expect a few crash landings when downloads start, but people are cheering that Battle.net is stabilizing and some games already boot. There’s even behind-the-scenes wizardry to shrink memory use over time, plus a humble brag: all gameplay videos were captured and edited on ARM machines—no x86 PCs in sight—cue the “no Intel CPUs were harmed” memes.
The spicy spark? User thesnide drops the big question: should RISC‑V add special features to speed up x86 app emulation, like Apple’s M1 magic. Cue the usual split: pragmatists want fast gaming now, purity police say “keep RISC‑V clean” and push for native ports. Meanwhile, folks joke about the eternal “Year of the Linux Desktop” and chant “SV48 or bust” when DRM-heavy titles hit address-space limits. Under the hood, Box64 refactors and a new opcode decoder mean fewer hacks, more speed, and easier maintenance. The vibe: ambitious progress, some rough edges, and a community debating whether innovation should be elegant—or just get the job done. Check the dev work on Box64
Key Points
- •Box64’s new release enables Linux Steam on Arm64, RISC-V, and LoongArch, with Box32 remaining experimental but more stable.
- •A new prefix opcode decoder across interpreter and dynarec backends improves handling of exotic prefixes, reduces source files, and adds automatic opcode support.
- •Work has begun to lower Box64’s memory footprint by identifying and removing unused native-converted code blocks, targeting apps like Steam/libcef.
- •Arm64 dynarec performance saw refactors and loop optimizations; GB10 CPU support was added as a build profile.
- •RISC-V dynarec reached strong performance with PLCT Labs’ contributions; Steam/Proton/Wine run, but DRM content needs SV48 or modified Proton/Wine.