Nobody saw this one coming besides everybody. Google's attempts to woo gamers into buying Chromebooks is officially done. Steam for Chromebook will be joining Stadia in Google's gaming graveyard as we go into 2026.
The news was broken by 9to5Google, who reported that there's now a message stating the Steam for Chromebook beta will be ending on January 1, 2026. Oh yeah, it never actually progressed beyond the beta stage.
Steam can still be installed on Chromebooks for now, albeit with the aforementioned cancellation message. But once it's done, any games folks have on their machines will be unplayable.
That will come as a surprise to some, after all, this isn't some cloud gaming service, this is Steam. But it's not like Steam would be installed on your Windows PC, or Mac, or Linux. It is the Linux version of Steam, but it's built into a special container, and presumably once Google hits the killswitch the container will no longer work.
Google's gaming efforts outside of Android continue to fall apart
I think the most surprising part about all this is that after debuting initially in 2022, it's taken until now for this to be discontinued. I've tried it out a bit on the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook, in part to see if a ChromeOS laptop could be a viable choice for keen gamers.
Steam works OK, and some games play pretty nicely, but there was never any statement of intent from Google about being serious with it. There are no Chromebooks with dedicated graphics, for example. While not essential, it'd be nice to have had one or two to choose from to show el Goog was serious.
Failing that, utilizing chips from Intel or AMD with recent integrated graphics, even. Both companies have some pretty solid iGPUs nowadays, but Chromebooks still seem to be saddled with mid-tier (at best) offerings.
2022 was a rollercoaster for Google's gaming ambitions. It announced Steam for Chromebooks at the beginning, further down the line, cancelled Stadia, and then just after cancelling Stadia, announced its "gaming Chromebooks" initiative.
Google apparently has taken "learnings for the future of Chromebook gaming" but those seem clear. It'll be relying on everyone else's cloud, including Xbox Game Pass, and Android.
The worst part is, I actually hoped for so much more from this. I like ChromeOS, and in many ways, it's a perfect antidote to Windows for those who want a simpler life. But those same people can also very easily want to play games as well.
Increasingly, though, it's harder to invest in any new initiatives from the biggest tech companies. Google and Microsoft are both renowned for cancelling products. But hey, both are all-in on AI!
For gamers, the platform of choice will continue to be Windows. It's where all of your games will work, and even a budget gaming laptop will get you a lot further than any Chromebook ever would. You don't have to like Windows, but it will forever be the safe bet if gaming is your number one priority.
But I want to pour one out, still, for Steam on Chromebooks. It was better than I ever thought it would be, and with the right investment, could have been something with a rosy future. But it's dead, so it's back to Windows. Or a Steam Deck if you want to spend Chromebook money and play almost all of your Steam games.
