Even though it's been three years since Chromebook users were first told that Steam support would be coming to ChromeOS, we're still not there yet. Today Google announced that beta testing is ready to begin.
Steam on Chromebooks is available as a beta with ChromeOS 108.0.5359.24 and later, Google product manager Zach Alcorn announced in a post today. Alcorn said the updates are based on “thousands of gameplay reports” from the alpha stage that began in March.
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AMD support
Alcorn said that the Steam beta on ChromeOS requires not only an Intel CPU, but also the company's 11th-generation Core i5 chip with Iris Xe graphics. With the recent release of 12th-generation chips, support has been extended to Team Red. He went on to say that AMD's Ryzen 5000 C-Series CPUs are also now compatible.
Google's beta also lowers the specification requirements to an i3 processor in the case of Intel-based Chromebooks, while AMD Chromebooks require a Ryzen 3 chip or higher.
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The required RAM has been reduced from 16GB to just 8GB.
According to Alcorn, while an i5 or Ryzen 5 is recommended for the best experience, some supported games will only run with 16GB of memory. Just like with local games, if you want top performance from your machine, invest in a more powerful option.
Chromebooks that support Steam testing
With these updated requirements, the number of Chromebooks that can experience Steam has tripled. Below is the full list of supported devices that Alcorn shared. Unsurprisingly, this includes the high refresh rate (up to 144Hz) cloud gaming Chromebooks announced last month.
- 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
- Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook 16
- Lenovo 5i-14 Chromebook
- Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook 14
- Lenovo ThinkPad C14
See also: Hackers steal Steam credentials via Browser-in-the-Browser phishing attacks
Google has published instructions for installing Steam on ChromeOS beta.
Source of information: arstechnica.com
