Steam was released for ChromeOS earlier this year in the alpha testing phase. It meant that people had to be on ChromeOS Dev Channel, which is considered unstable, to be able to experience the gaming service. Plus, it worked on only a handful of devices. Today, Steam for ChromeOS is moving to the beta testing phase, and with that, it will be available for people running ChromeOS Beta Channel, which is far more stable. Along with that, Steam for ChromeOS now supports many more devices. However, it still doesn’t support any Chromebook from Samsung.
Initially, Steam for ChromeOS was available only on devices with 11th Gen Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processors and 8GB or higher amount of RAM. No Chromebook from Samsung met that requirement, so it was understandable why they are not mentioned in the list of supported devices. However, the minimum hardware requirement to run Steam has been lowered with the beta version. You can now run it on devices with Core i3/Ryzen 3 processors. That means Galaxy Chromebook and Galaxy Chromebook 2 meet the requirement to run Steam. But the list of supported devices still doesn’t mention any Chromebook from Samsung.
Maybe Google and Valve need to test Steam on Samsung Chromebooks
The reason why Samsung Chromebooks are still not supported is unknown. Maybe Google and Valve need to test Steam on every Chromebook before mentioning its name in the list of supported devices. Hopefully, Chromebooks from Samsung and other brands will be added to the list of supported devices soon. Anyway, the beta version also brings support for devices that run on AMD Ryzen 5000 C-series and 12th Gen Intel processors. In case you are curious about which devices can run Steam at the moment, here’s the list as mentioned on the official website:
- Acer Chromebook 514 (CB514-1W)
- Acer Chromebook 515 (CB515-1W)
- Acer Chromebook 516 GE
- Acer Chromebook Spin 514 (CP514-3H, CP514-3HH, CP514-3WH)
- Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (CP713-3W)
- Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (CP714-1WN)
- Acer Chromebook Vero 514
- ASUS Chromebook CX9 (CX9400)
- ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5 (CX5500)
- ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5 (CX5601)
- ASUS Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip
- Framework Laptop Chromebook Edition
- HP Elite c640 14 inch G3 Chromebook
- HP Elite c645 G2 Chromebook
- HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook
- HP Pro c640 G2 Chromebook
- IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook 16
- Lenovo 5i-14 Chromebook
- Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook 14
- Lenovo ThinkPad C14
If you are using any of the Chromebook mentioned above, you can experience Steam by switching to the Beta Channel. You also need to make sure that you are running ChromeOS version 108.0.5359.24 and newer. To be able to install Steam, you have to go to chrome://flags/#enable-borealis in your browser and enable the feature. Once you do that, just search for Steam in the launcher to start the installation process.
Steam beta for ChromeOS also brings a number of performance improvements. First and foremost, there’s now support for Vulcan 1.3 and DirectX12, which, according to Google, improves how shaders are stored and persisted. The company also says that it has improved its “scaling system so you can now performantly play many more games on QHD and UHD displays, and see the performance benefits of reducing the in-game resolution on all displays.”
You will now get low battery notifications when playing games in full screen so that you don’t run out of battery unnoticed. Plus, CPU overhead in Vulcan and DirectX titles has been reduced to extend battery life. Last but not least, your Chromebook will no longer sleep when a game is being downloaded in the background. Google has also added fifty more game titles to its list of recommended games to play on Steam for ChromeOS. For a complete list of changes and recommended games, visit the official website.
