Google to kill Steam for Chromebook beta in 2026 — Installed games will 'no longer be available to play'

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Say goodbye to native Steam gaming on your ChromeOS device.

Steam library with ChromeOS and Steam logos showing.
(Image credit: Future / Steam)

Google has just announced that it will end its Steam for Chromebook Beta program on January 1, 2026, with devices losing access to installed games on that date. According to 9to5Google, you can still install Steam on your Chromebook through the ChromeOS Launcher, but it will show a warning saying that support for the service is ending soon.

“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,” the warning says. “We appreciate your participation in and contribution to learnings from the beta program, which will inform the future of Chromebook gaming.”

However, despite being in beta since November 2022, Steam for Chromebook never went into stable release. It seems that the service did not gain enough popularity for it to enter mainstream consciousness, even though it only has minimal specification requirements — an Intel Core i3 or an AMD Ryzen 3 CPU paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage. Although these would allow cheaper Chromebooks to run it, they really weren’t good enough for most gamers who want to play the latest titles.

Still, the imminent demise of Steam for Chromebook isn't strictly the end for gaming on Chromebooks. Google is working to combine Android and ChromeOS into one seamless operating system, and as mobile chips, like AMD’s Strix Halo line-up, become more powerful and come with integrated GPUs that can rival discrete graphics cards, it will not make sense for the company to ignore the gamer demographic.

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Jowi Morales
Jowi Morales
Contributing Writer

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • usertests
    minimal specification requirements — an Intel Core i3 or an AMD Ryzen 3 CPU
    It also had a rather sparse library of just 99 games
    Maybe they're killing their version because it's nonsensical that proper Steam can't run on x86 Linux? And the modern iGPUs will play thousands of older and indie titles just fine.
    Reply
  • Pierce2623
    usertests said:
    Maybe they're killing their version because it's nonsensical that proper Steam can't run on x86 Linux? And the modern iGPUs will play thousands of older and indie titles just fine.
    Proper steam can’t run on x86 Linux? Ever heard of SteamOS? Or Proton?
    Reply
  • ezst036
    I have this nagging voice telling me that Google is quietly giving up. ChromeOS isn't long for this world anymore.
    Reply
  • nookoool
    The google graveyard strikes again.
    Rumor they will combine android and chromeos. If that happens, it will have better access to android gaming rather than limited access via the arcvm.
    Reply
  • hannibal
    ezst036 said:
    I have this nagging voice telling me that Google is quietly giving up. ChromeOS isn't long for this world anymore.
    ChromeOS is not going anywhere! Schools all around the world are full of Chromebooks an it is in wide usage also along many "normal" people!
    But gaming in Chromebooks... It is easy to see why they give up that idea! People/institutions who use Chromebooks did not buy it for gaming!
    Reply
  • derekullo
    I'm sure Rimworld and other similarly styled games would run just fine given that hardware.
    "a Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of RAM, Intel HD Graphics 4000 or equivalent, and 500MB of storage space"
    Reply
  • vanadiel007
    Looks like Google is repositioning itself lately.

    I expect some more "things" to be slowly fazed out, and AI fazed in. They are feeling the threat AI poses to their search engine, and are getting ready to "compete".
    Reply
  • abufrejoval
    Apart from all those good arguments about ChromeOS' future in general, there is one golden rule to what Google does: do not let your competition grow with the help of your platforms.

    And Google really, really, really doesn't like Valve any more than the fruity cult does after years of court battles.

    And Steam isn't just about locally hosted games, but also remote play, where the importance of the local computing capacity is even less important than it being a cheap screen in front of an end-user.
    Reply