Steam Integration

Steam Integration

Argosy can download and launch Steam games through GameNative, a Windows-on-Android runtime. Your Steam library shows up in Argosy alongside your emulated games in the same library view.

Steam support is experimental. It depends on GameNative being installed on your device, and on whatever hardware and driver requirements each specific game has.

Requirements

• GameNative installed on the device. Argosy detects it automatically.
• A Steam account with the games you want to play.
• Hardware capable of actually running the game. Argosy can't guarantee any Steam title will work — that's between the game, GameNative, and your device.

Signing in

Go to Settings > Steam:

1. Argosy shows a QR code.
2. Open the Steam mobile app and scan it.
3. Approve the sign-in on your phone.

Your session token stays on the device. Argosy never sees your password.

If the session expires — a password change, a two-factor reset, or just a long time away — the Steam section prompts you to scan a fresh QR.

Your Steam library

Once signed in, Argosy pulls in your owned Steam games and displays them alongside the rest of your library. Covers, hero art, descriptions, and genres are fetched automatically. There's no scraper to configure.

The library auto-syncs after login and has a 24-hour cooldown on repeat syncs to avoid hammering Steam. You can force a full refresh from the Steam settings section at any time.

If you remove a game from your Steam account, it stays in Argosy's library until you delete it manually. Argosy doesn't prune removed entitlements on its own.

Where Steam games install

Argosy treats Steam like any other platform: by default, downloads land at <your ROM directory>/steam/<game>. The default ROM directory is configured during first-run setup, and you can override the Steam path specifically.

Configuring the Steam install path

In Settings > Steam > Install Path you can:

• Leave it on the default (your ROM directory + /steam).
• Pick a custom folder — internal storage, SD card, USB drive, anywhere Argosy can write to.

The "Custom" badge shows when an override is in effect; the Reset button restores the default.

One-time GameNative add per download

GameNative no longer auto-discovers external installs through a recursive scan. After each download finishes, open GameNative once and add the new install through its UI. From that point forward Argosy launches it normally — the manual add only needs to happen once per game. We're tracking GameNative changes that would let Argosy hand installs over directly without that step.

Steam games can be very large — many tens of gigabytes. Check free space at the install path before starting a download.

Downloading a game

Open a Steam game's detail page and tap Download, the same as you would for an emulated ROM. Once a download is running:

• It keeps going in the background. Back out, lock the device, leave Argosy entirely, or put the handheld in standby — the download continues. No foreground screen required.
• Network drops auto-pause and resume. If Wi-Fi cuts out, Argosy pauses the download and picks it back up when connectivity returns.
• Reboots don't lose your progress. Pending and paused downloads resume on the next app start.
• Pause, resume, and cancel are available from the Downloads screen like any other Argosy download.

Only one Steam download runs at a time. If you've also got ROM downloads queued, Steam shares the overall concurrent-download budget with them so they don't fight for bandwidth.

If the destination runs out of space, Argosy stops with a clear message and waits for you to free room before retrying.

Already-installed games

Games you installed through GameNative directly are still discovered automatically — at app startup Argosy checks GameNative's library for matches against your Steam account.

Games downloaded through Argosy need that one-time manual add in GameNative's UI (see above) before they show up as installed.

Launching a Steam game

Press A (or tap) on a Steam game's detail page. Argosy hands the launch off to GameNative. From that point GameNative owns everything — its settings, controller mapping, per-game configuration — and Argosy steps out of the way.

If GameNative isn't installed, Argosy points you to the setup section first.

Cancelling or deleting

From the Downloads screen:

• Pause / Resume — freezes a download. Partial files are kept and the download picks up exactly where it left off.
• Cancel — stops the download and removes any partial files.

From a Steam game's detail page:

• Delete — removes the installed files from disk and clears the game from the "installed" list. The game itself stays in your Steam library.

Saves

Steam Cloud and Steam game save files are handled by Steam and GameNative. Argosy's Save Sync — the feature that backs up ROM and emulator saves to RomM — does not touch Steam game saves.

Windows games from RomM

GameNative can also run non-Steam Windows games stored on your RomM server (platform windows or pc).

1. Download the game from RomM in Argosy like any other title.
2. Open GameNative and add the downloaded folder as a Custom Game. This is a one-time step per game — GameNative records its launch id inside the game folder.
3. Launch from Argosy from then on. If you skip step 2, launching shows a prompt reminding you to add the game in GameNative first.

Saves live inside GameNative's Wine containers and are not covered by Save Sync.

Store game imports (GOG, Epic, Amazon)

Games installed inside GameNative from other storefronts can appear in Argosy as their own library shelves:

1. In GameNative, open its settings and configure Export to Frontend for each store you use, pointing it at a folder on shared storage (the same folder for all stores is fine).
2. In Argosy, go to Settings > Steam > Store Game Imports and pick that folder.

Argosy scans the folder at every launch and keeps the shelves in sync as you install and uninstall in GameNative. GOG games get full metadata (cover, description, screenshots) from their store id; Epic and Amazon titles are matched by name against the Steam store for art, so store exclusives may show a plain name tile. Launching hands straight into GameNative.

Known limitations

• Not every Steam game works. Compatibility is defined by GameNative and its Windows runtime. Games with intrusive anti-cheat, unusual drivers, or unsupported APIs can fail to launch, crash on load, or behave badly.
• Download speed comes from Steam's CDN. Argosy can't speed up a slow download.
• Steam rate limits apply. If you hit one, Argosy shows a "try again in an hour" message and backs off automatically.
• Session tokens can expire — a QR re-scan fixes it.
• Region and account restrictions apply. Argosy can only download games your Steam account can access.
• No Internal install location — see the section above for why.