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Title: Steam for Chromebooks is reportedly being discontinued

Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2025 19:40:20 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/gaming/steam-for-chr...

The dream of Chromebooks that double as gaming laptops appears to be on its
last legs. 9to5Google reports that Google is ending support for Steam for
Chromebooks starting January 1, 2026. Porting the application launcher was
part of an extended push from the company to make Chromebooks a place to play
games. Companies like ASUS and Acer announced and released gaming
Chromebooks, but the idea never seemed to catch on.

Google's plan to retire Steam for Chromebooks was discovered when 9to5Google
tried to install the launcher on a new laptop. "The Steam for Chromebook Beta
program will conclude on January 1st, 2026," a new notice reads when you
download Steam. "After this date, games installed as part of the Beta will no
longer be available to play on your device. We appreciate your participation
in and contribution to learnings from the beta program, which will inform the
future of Chromebook gaming."

Engadget has contacted Google and Valve for confirmation that Steam for
Chromebooks is being discontinued. We'll update this article if we hear back.

Reports that Steam would eventually be available on ChromeOS started as far
back as 2020. The joint effort to port the launcher to Chromebooks was a
surprise announcement at GDC 2022. Google released a Steam alpha that March,
which ultimately worked better than expected. A beta version of the app came
a few months later in November, adding support for several new Chromebooks.
The app has existed in beta since then, without any major updates from Google
or Valve.

One reason Google could be giving up is that the number of games that can
actually run on Chromebooks is limited, thanks to the underpowered CPUs and
integrated graphics that most ChromeOS devices use. Valve's Proton
compatibility software ΓÇö which helps Windows games run on the Linux-based
Steam Deck ΓÇö is technically available for Chromebooks, but it can't make up
for a lack of processing power.

Without Steam, using either NVIDIA GeForce Now or Xbox Cloud Gaming is the
best option for running modern console and PC games on your Chromebook.
ChromeOS can also runs Android apps, but then you have to be comfortable
playing what you can get from the Play Store.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/steam-for-chr...
discontinued-194020340.html?src=rss

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