Steam for Chromebooks beta ends January 1, 2026
If you’ve been playing PC titles through Steam on a Chromebook, take note: support for the ChromeOS Steam beta is being wound down, with access slated to end on January 1, 2026. New installs still work for now, but users are seeing an in-app notice warning about the upcoming cutoff.
“The Steam for Chromebook Beta program will conclude on January 1st, 2026. After this date, games installed as part of the Beta will no longer be available to play on your device. We appreciate your participation and contribution to learnings from the beta program, which will inform the future of Chromebook gaming.”
Steam first arrived on ChromeOS in early 2022 as a very limited alpha restricted to a short list of newer, higher-spec Intel-based models. A broader beta followed later that year, lowering the hardware bar and adding support for AMD CPUs and GPUs. Since then, updates have been sparse and the initiative has flown largely under the radar.
The beta was part of a wider push to position certain laptops as “gaming Chromebooks” in 2022–2023. That effort brought machines with stronger components and high-refresh-rate displays, plus tuned experiences for cloud platforms like GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming. Work to enable Steam on ChromeOS had reportedly been underway years before, reflecting a long-standing interest in native PC gaming on these devices.
Even with the Proton compatibility layer—used to run many Windows games on Linux-style systems—title support on Chromebooks was hit-or-miss. The main constraint wasn’t software so much as hardware: most Chromebooks ship with modest, older processors and integrated graphics that trail far behind what’s inside a Steam Deck or a higher-end Windows laptop.
As a result, only a relatively small catalog of games was deemed to run well—roughly 99 titles, skewing toward older or less demanding releases, with many 2D entries. More modern, graphics-heavy games could often launch under Proton but tended to be unplayable due to performance bottlenecks.
There was a period when Chromebooks with discrete Nvidia GeForce GPUs appeared to be in development, complete with board codenames in ChromeOS code. Those efforts were later shelved without a public product release, removing one of the most promising paths to stronger local gaming performance.
Why is the beta ending? Low usage and the lack of widespread gaming-grade hardware are obvious factors. Another possibility is strategic cleanup as ChromeOS and Android edge closer together under ongoing platform plans. Whatever the mix of reasons, it suggests that—for now—Chromebook gaming will continue to lean on cloud services rather than local installs.
If you’re currently in the Steam beta on ChromeOS, plan accordingly: once the shutdown date arrives, titles installed through the program won’t be playable. Cloud options remain the most practical route for most Chromebook owners who want access to newer AAA releases.
