Google has confirmed the Steam gaming platform will be available for Chromebook notebooks, but you’ll need to have the right hardware to join in with the fun.
During a talk at the 2022 Google for Games Developer Summit, Google said Steam will be available in alpha and likely only for a number of higher-end Chromebooks, 9to5Google has reported.
That means it’s likely to be invite-only for a very limited number of users on a limited number of Chromebooks to begin with, with a wider beta to come before an official launch.
Google didn’t say which Chromebooks have been selected for the alpha, only going as far to say: “Steam Alpha just launched, making this longtime PC game store available on select Chromebooks for users to try.” If it has actually launched, we can’t find it.
Last month the same site discovered some compatible models, identified by their codenames, hiding within code. The seven models include three from Acer, two from ASUS and one apiece from HP and Lenovo. The latter is an unreleased and unannounced model.
Any Chromebook to run Steam will require an 11th generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, as well as a minimum of 7GB of RAM, which rules ruling out most Chromebooks instantly. Those spied within the code are as follows:
- Volet – Acer Chromebook 515
- Voxel – Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (CP713-3W)
- Delbin – ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5 (CX5500)
- Drobit – ASUS Chromebook CX9 (CX9400)
- Elemi – HP Pro c640 G2 Chromebook
- Lindar – Unknown/unreleased Chromebook from Lenovo
During the keynote, Google promised more details on a forthcoming community forum post, but that post is yet to go live. Hopefully it will offer some information on specific devices, potential release windows and much more.
The pending launch of the Steam on Chromebooks comes at an important time for Valve, which just released the Steam Deck handheld console. PC gaming is becoming more and more flexible.
You might like…
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
