ChromeOS gets serious about gaming as Steam support enters beta
Gaming on ChromeOS has come a long way over the last decade. What started out as an impossibility — save for anything playable in a browser — has evolved into a cornucopia of options. Not only have Android games and cloud streaming transformed thebest Chromebooksinto capable methods for playing your favorite new titles, butSteam for ChromeOShas been in the development phase for years now. Today, Steam for Chromebooks is moving into beta, marking another step towards local PC gaming on Google’s OS.
We’ve knowntoday’s move was coming for some time now, but it doesn’t make it any less exciting. Nearly seven months afterSteam’s alpha client launched, anyone runningChromeOS 108.0.5359.24 or higher can now join in on the fun. Considering you previously needed to be running on Google’s Dev channel to install Steam, this change should bring plenty of new gamers into the fold. Google is also adding support for AMD Ryzen 5000 C-series and Intel 12th Gen Core CPUs, both of which should provide adequate power levels for gaming. Minimum requirements are lower too — down to just a Core i3 or Ryzen 3 — though those laptops will likely be limited in what they can play.
Unsurprisingly, the Steam experience has radically changed in moving from alpha to beta status. Google is focusing on improving the user experience while boosting performance and compatibility. That means support for DirectX 12 and Vulkan 13, scaling fixes for high-res QHD and UHD displays, improved power management, and much more.
Local storage has also been reworked, making it easier for games to grab DLC outside of Steam and improving file access performance for anything running on Proton. The installation process has been streamlined, requiring nothing more than an enabled flag and a quick search for Steam in the launcher. But perhaps most notable of all is the expanded support for software. Google added a ton of new games to its recommended list through these efforts, and the company promises more on the way.
As before, you’ll need some specific hardware to get ChromeOS up and running on the beta channel. All of these models are supported, so long as they’re running on a Core i3/Ryzen 3 or higher and at least 8GB of RAM.
And here’s a look at the full list of newly-recommended games, in addition to thetitles announced back in March
Age of Mythology: Extended Edition
Bloons TD Battle 2
Core Keeper
Cult of the Lamb
Cultist Simulator
Dark Souls: Remastered
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director’s Cut
Dicey Dungeons
Dishonored
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Dome Keeper
Dorfromantik
Enter the Gungeon
Escape Simulator
Football Manager 2022
For The King
Gang Beasts
Gunfire Reborn
Hearts of Iron IV
Inscryption
Into the Breach
Katamari Damacy REROLL
Killer Queen Black
Mini Metro
Mirror’s Edge
Monster Train
Octopath Traveler
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition
Oxygen Not Included
Papers, Please
Shatter Remastered Deluxe
Shop Titans
Slime Rancher
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Stormworks: Build and Rescue
Stumble Guys
Subnautica
Tetris Effect: Connected
The Battle of Polytopia
Tomb Raider
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator
Two Point Hospital
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel
Don’t feel too dismayed that titles likePersona 5 Royalaren’t here — other games will still work, albeit with the potential for more issues.
If you’re looking for a complete changelog detailing everything fixed in the move to beta, or a long list ofknown issuesstill affecting players, it’s possible to find them over at theChromeOS dev blog. Both are a little too much detail to cover here, but if you’re running into some compatibility or performance issues, make sure to check there first. Not every bug has a workaround, but quite a few do.
Despite theimminent death of Stadia, Chromebooks are more focused on gaming than ever before. We’ve seen manufacturers launch all sorts of gaming-focused hardware, complete with therequisite RGB-lit keyboards and sleek gamer aesthetic. And while many of these devices still focus oncloud gaming above all else— lacking the necessary hardware to power titles likeThe Witcher 3— it’s only a matter of time until we see discrete GPUs and powerful processors become the norm for Chromebooks.
Between Steam on ChromeOS, dedicated handhelds like the Steam Deck, and cloud gaming solutions like Nvidia’s GeForce Now, we’re truly living in a golden age of PC gaming. Hopefully, it won’t be long until Valve and Google bring Steam to stable builds of ChromeOS.
Not yet, anyway
It’s been an interesting journey
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