Google yesterday said that the “Steam on Chrome OS” alpha had launched, but it turns out that Steam on Chromebooks isn’t actually ready for testing.
During the Google for Games developer summit keynote yesterday, Google product director Greg Hartrell said, “The Steam alpha just launched, making this long-time PC game store available on select Chromebooks for users to try.” He encouraged people to visit the Chromebook community forum for more information. But at the time, as many noticed, there was no alpha or new information there.
While it may have seemed like a low-key announcement for Steam on Chrome OS, which Google hasn’t updated the public on since announcing the Valve partnership in 2020, it turns out that Hartrell misspoke. Steam on Chrome OS is not yet available for testing. It should be soon, however.
A few hours after the keynote, a Google representative posted on the Chromebook community forum to say that the alpha will, in fact, hit the dev channel “soon.” The rep noted that “a small set of Chromebooks” would be eligible, but no other details were given.
Recently, 9to5Google spotted code changes in the Chromium Gerrit pointing to Chromebook models from HP, Lenovo, Acer, and Asus as supporting the feature. We’ve also seen work on RGB keyboard support, which could signal how Google and other companies will try to sell the idea of playing PC games on devices traditionally viewed as lower power, cheaper alternatives to Windows machines. Notably, these Chromebook models cost over $800 each.
It’s also unclear what the requirements for Steam on Chrome OS will be. 9to5Google last month suggested that the app would require at least an 11th-gen i5 CPU and 8GB of RAM, based on Chromium Gerrit findings.
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