The first 'official' Android game spotted on Steam suggests you might not need to buy games twice to run them natively on the Steam Frame's own chip

Hands-on with Valve's new VR headset, the Steam Frame, during an interview at Valve HQ in Bellevue, Washington.
(Image credit: Future)

Believe me, I've tried to get into VR games. However, my introduction to this arena was PlayStation's expensive niche-within-a-niche PS VR headsets, making for hardly the best first impression. Still, I'm hopeful the wire-free Steam Frame can rehabilitate virtual reality's image and make VR games just a bit more accessible. Offering the Android app version alongside your Steam games may be an interesting step in the right direction.

Eagle eyed X user Brad Lynch spotted what may be "the first 'official' Android app on Steam" while poring over the changelist of, drum roll please…Walkabout Mini Golf. Apparently changelist entry #32325165 adds the game's Android .apk to the App Config, plus OpenXR support.

Though, just to be clear, it's not yet been confirmed by either Valve or developer Mighty Coconut that you'll definitely get an .apk to play on the Steam Frame, alongside the standard Steam version of your VR games. Though a changelist entry like this seems fairly clear cut, game builds can include all sorts of odd files for various reasons.

For instance, data miners have found the entire original version of Oblivion in the Remaster's files, almost perfectly preserved like a set of dinosaur bones. Starfield dataminers also found an interesting, much earlier build of the game in the release versions files. My point is, a Matryoshka-esque nesting of game files is not that unusual and may even include builds that are not always intended to be accessed by the player.

Still, the addition of OpenXR support is promising. This bit of software attempts to consolidate a whole bunch of AR and VR APIs into one package, meaning it's easier to get virtual reality games working on a variety of devices. That could make it a smidge easier to port, say, Meta Quest games…or indeed the Android app version of a game you already own.

While there's no guarantee Mighty Coconut's approach represents any kind of standard for the Steam Frame going forward, you know what they say: first, Walkabout Mini Golf, and then the world! Okay, I totally just made that up—but time will tell.

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Jess Kinghorn
Hardware Writer

Jess has been writing about games for over ten years, spending the last seven working on print publications PLAY and Official PlayStation Magazine. When she’s not writing about all things hardware here, she’s getting cosy with a horror classic, ranting about a cult hit to a captive audience, or tinkering with some tabletop nonsense.

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