Opening Steam on ChromeOS reportedly shows a message that says the beta programme will conclude on January 1, 2026.
Support for Steam played a major role in Google’s push for Gaming Chromebooks
Photo Credit: Steam
Google is reportedly dropping support for the Steam for Chromebook Beta programme at the end of this year. As per the report, Chromebook users attempting to launch the beta app are now getting a pop-up message informing them about the upcoming discontinuation. The Mountain View-based tech giant has reportedly set January 1, 2026, as the date to pull the plug on Steam. After that, even the pre-installed games will automatically be removed from users' devices. The company did not mention a reason for shutting down the project.
According to a 9to5Google report, Google is now showing all Chromebook users a message informing them about the discontinuation when they attempt to install or launch Steam. For now, the beta app works fine, but this will not be the case starting in 2026.
The message reportedly reads, “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. We appreciate your participation in and contribution to learnings from the beta program, which will inform the future of Chromebook gaming.”
Google first started the process of optimising Steam for Chromebook in March 2022 when the company started the Steam for Chromebook alpha programme. By November 2022, the alpha programme was closed, and the platform was pushed to the beta phase, lowering the hardware requirements. Notably, Steam for Chromebook uses the Linux version of the game, and Google maintains 99 different titles that are compatible with the operating system.
However, despite moving to beta, Steam did not receive any major update afterwards, and the new message has now closed the curtains on the project. Interestingly, support for Steam played an important role in Google's push for Gaming Chromebooks. After January 1, users will still be able to play Android games from the Play Store; however, the catalogue does not match up to what Steam offers.
The only other option available to Chromebook users is opting for a cloud-based gaming service such as Xbox Cloud Gaming, NVIDIA GeForce Now, or Amazon Luna.
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