In what appears to be the biggest emulation platform launch so far, the popular emulator RetroArch is coming to Steam on July 30. Libretro, the open source software developer behind RetroArch, made an announcement yesterday about the launch.
RetroArch is a popular emulator platform that can emulate a large number of retro gaming consoles and can also be used for playing a variety of gaming engines and media apps. RetroArch’s launch on Steam is seen as the emulation platform’s efforts to broaden its user base.
In an interview with Ars Technica, Libretro’s Daniel De Matteis said that RetroArch’s launch on Steam, which is a closed platform, would not violate any policies of the storefront. Apparently, Valve does not have any rules regarding emulators.
In the announcement post, Libretro mentions: “While there is nothing particularly about RetroArch or the Libretro API that has anything to do with emulators, most do it use it for this purpose.”
There will be no difference in the functionality of the RetroArch when it launches on Steam in two weeks from now. The Steam version will not have Steamworks SDK functionality or additional Steam features at the time of the launch.
After the launch, the company will explore options to incorporate Steam’s functionality into the emulator platform.
Moreover, the open source company has said that it will initially launch the Windows version. macOS and Linux versions will be released later.
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