Steam: By year-end, the platform will become unusable on all laptops from this manufacturer
The gaming world on Chromebook is living its final hours! Valve is definitively closing the curtain on its beta version of Steam for ChromeOS, leaving thousands of gamers in uncertainty. A decision that marks the end of an ambitious but apparently aborted gaming adventure.
Launched with great fanfare nearly four years ago, the Steam initiative for Chromebooks – these laptops designed by Google and running ChromeOS – had raised many hopes among mobile and budget gaming enthusiasts. But this experiment is now coming to an end, perfectly illustrating the challenges of adapting traditional PC gaming to the Mountain View giant’s alternative platforms.
Image credit: Steam
A scheduled closure for New Year’s Day
The fateful date is set: January 1st, 2026. From this deadline, all games installed via Steam on Chromebook will become completely inaccessible. This announcement, revealed by a warning message displayed directly in the application, leaves no ambiguity about Valve’s intentions.
Affected users now discover this unequivocal message when launching Steam: “The Steam beta program for Chromebook will end on January 1st, 2026”. A direct communication that contrasts with the usual diplomatic formulas of tech companies.
The consequences are clear:
- All locally installed games will become unplayable
- The Steam application will stop working on ChromeOS
- No new downloads will be possible
- Steam libraries will remain accessible on other platforms
A journey fraught with obstacles since 2022
The program had started with optimism nonetheless. Entering alpha phase in April 2022, then beta in November of the same year, Steam for Chromebook represented a bold attempt to democratize PC gaming on machines with modest configurations.
But technical reality quickly imposed itself. Chromebooks, designed to prioritize cloud connectivity and energy performance, proved unsuitable for the demands of the traditional Steam catalog. Only a limited selection of titles was compatible, considerably reducing the platform’s appeal.
Google accumulates gaming failures
This closure is part of a series of setbacks for Google’s gaming ambitions. Three years after the Stadia debacle, another gaming project bites the dust. Unlike the Stadia closure which resulted in full refunds, no financial compensation is planned for Steam on Chromebook users.
The difference is easily explained: Since Valve is not Google, Steam purchases remain linked to user accounts and remain accessible on PC, Mac, or Steam Deck. A small consolation for those who had bet on the Chromebook ecosystem.
This decision comes in the context of a major restructuring at Google. The gradual merger of ChromeOS with Android could explain the abandonment of gaming initiatives specific to Chromebooks. The future of gaming on these machines could now go through the Android mobile ecosystem.
