Google Finally Gives An Official Description About Steam On Chromebooks
JAKARTA - A week ago, Google announced that Steam would be coming to Chromebooks in a very early alpha testing format. However, other than the announcement, there are no details to be had.
Now, Google is making things a little more official by releasing instructions on how to get Steam up and running on Chrome OS.
Also, the company provides details on what kind of hardware is supported, the games that should work, as well as any bugs you might encounter.
First of all, you'll need a Steam-enabled device, and it's only available for some Chromebooks. Google says that you'll need a device with Intel Iris Xe Graphics, an 11th-generation Core i5 or i7 processor and at least 8GB of RAM.
Google specifically says that configurations with an Intel i3 processor or 4GB RAM are not supported. For alpha, only the following devices are supported:
- Acer Chromebook 514 (CB514-1W)
- Acer Chromebook 515 (CB515-1W)
- Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (CP713-3W)
- ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5 (CX5500)
- ASUS Chromebook CX9 (CX9400)
- HP Pro c640 G2 Chromebook
- Lenovo 5i-14 Chromebook
After making sure your hardware is supported, Google says you should switch your Chromebook to the Dev channel. Google also warns that you shouldn't do this with the hardware you rely on for everyday use.
Next, you have to enable certain flags in Chrome as well as type some commands into the Crosh Chrome OS terminal. Google says you can find full instructions at Chromium.org.
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Once you've installed Steam, there's a large group of games that Google has tried and that testers recommend trying too. The games are Portal 2, Dota 2, Team Fortress 2, and Half-Life 2.
As for the other games that Google recommends trying, such as Celeste, Hades, Cuphead, TEKKEN 7, Fallout 4, and many more.
Google notes that Steam will install and run the Linux version of your chosen game by default if that's available.
If you have one of the few supported Chromebooks and want to give it a try, you can do that now, but make sure you've backed up any local files on your device before taking the plunge.