Will My Steam Games Still Work in 2060? (Proton, Open Source, and Preservation)

So I’ve been thinking about the far future of PC gaming — specifically, what happens to all our Steam games if we jump ahead to the year 2060. Gabe Newell eventually steps down, new hardware architectures arrive (ARM, RISC-V, “ARM2”), and the Steam Deck hype may or may not last forever.

Here’s a breakdown of what could realistically happen, based on Valve’s history and current tech:

🔹 Valve’s Track Record

• They don’t abandon old games. Half-Life (1998) and CS 1.6 (2000) still run fine today.
• They fund open-source solutions. Proton (built on Wine/DXVK) is Valve’s biggest investment in Linux gaming.
• They already ship emulators. Many DOS/point-and-click classics on Steam include DOSBox or ScummVM bundled. ➡️ This shows Valve cares about compatibility and is willing to use open-source tools to make sure stuff still works.

🔹 Scenarios for 2060 ✅ Best Case

Steam Deck and similar devices stay profitable → Valve keeps investing in Proton.

• Wider compatibility, even for AAA titles.
• Linux gaming reaches full parity with Windows.

⚖️ Mid Case

Steam Deck stops being profitable → Valve slows down Proton investment.

• Proton goes into “maintenance mode.”
• Still works fine for most games, and because it’s open-source, the community keeps improving it.

❌ Worst Case

Valve drops Proton entirely and steps away from Linux gaming.

• Official support ends.
• BUT Proton is open-source → community + Wine devs can continue development (just like Wine has survived for 30 years).

🔹 Architecture Shifts (x86 → ARM2 or beyond)

• Big shifts will need emulation (like Apple’s Rosetta 2).
• Valve hasn’t promised anything, but based on Proton + DOSBox history, it’s likely they’d support a solution.
• Even if not, open-source devs will almost certainly step in.

🔹 So… What Are the Chances?

• High chance (70–80%) → Your single-player Steam games remain playable in 2060 thanks to Proton, emulation, or community projects.
• Moderate chance (15–20%) → Some games break temporarily after big tech shifts, but later get fixed.
• Low chance (5–10%) → A few niche games might die forever (mainly ones with broken DRM).

🔹 Conclusion

Valve has already proven that they’ll use open-source solutions (Proton, DOSBox) to keep games alive. Even if Valve pulls out, the community won’t let decades of PC games vanish.

So while nothing is 100% guaranteed, it’s very likely that by 2060 you’ll still be able to boot up your favorite single-player Steam games — even if it takes a bit of emulation magic.

submitted by /u/BulkyHuckleberry9960
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