Valve's leading coder announces that a proper HDR implementation for Linux is now apparently being developed. It's hardly a secret that the company behind Steam and classic PC games such as Half-Life and Counter-Strike is banking heavily on being able to prop up Linux as a viable alternative to Windows for gamers, and access to cutting-edge features such as High Dynamic Range will help in this regard.
Following the successful launch of its Steam Deck handheld gaming PC, Valve has doubled down on the importance of Linux for gaming. Its own version of the operating system, SteamOS, is due to release as a free downloadable installation that will be able to run on virtually any modern PC, and support for features that might not be natively present on the Deck is important too.
Valve may be preparing SteamOS for full release already, and if that's the case, the notion of having access to HDR on a SteamOS gaming rig makes perfect sense. While the feature has been wholly unavailable on Linux up until now, Valve coder Pierre-Loup Griffais has just announced that this is no longer the case. Griffais specifically mentioned Linux contributor and Valve contractor Joshua Ashton, crediting him for work that led to the availability of HDR in Linux games. According to Griffais' posted screenshots, the feature now works in Halo Infinite, Death Stranding, and Deep Rock Galactic, though it's still not ready for full release.
While this info may sound particularly exciting to Steam Deck users, it's immediately worth pointing out that the device's display only supports SDR content. HDR will, therefore, never make its way to the original iteration of the handheld gaming PC. That being what it is, the fact that the planned improvements for the next Steam Deck focus mainly on display and battery upgrades suggests that something may be cooking in the background on that front too.
Setting up HDR support on SteamOS wouldn't help with Steam Deck's performance and battery life by default, of course, but it would allow for substantial improvements to the visual fidelity of supported games. Furthermore, those who enjoy HDR wouldn't be forced to part ways with the feature on their main gaming PC, should they ever decide to leave Windows in lieu of SteamOS.
It's still worth remembering that not all the recent news from Valve is great. Just ahead of the holiday season, Steam Deck received a problematic SD path update. This hotfix was supposed to pave the way for future SteamOS developments by standardizing the way SD cards are mounted in the operating system, but it also broke game and file access for many players. Valve quickly reverted the change, but users should note that it will be launching again sometime in the future.