Chromebook gamers, heads-up: Steam is now the latest headstone in Google's packed graveyard

Chromebook gamers who used Steam won't be able to do so for much longer, as Google has officially canned support for Valve's platform on ChromeOS.

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The Steam for Chromebook Beta kicked off a few years back, in 2022, but it isn't going to make it past the end of this year.

9 to 5 Google reports that if you fire up the installation of Steam under ChromeOS now, you receive the following warning:

"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."

In a way, it's a shame to see a gaming project die - but the move is hardly a surprise. Steam on ChromeOS being in beta for so long was certainly a clue that all was not well, and the type of games you can run on a Chromebook are obviously limited. (Given that the majority of Chromebooks are pretty low-spec efforts).

Indeed, Google's list of officially supported games on ChromeOS only extends to 99 titles.

In the statement, Google does mention there's a 'future of Chromebook gaming' but the question is - exactly what kind of future? That may be wrapped up in the merging of Android and ChromeOS.

Of course, there are other alternatives for gaming on your Chromebook, too, notably GeForce Now, which works just fine on low-powered hardware, of course (you just need a decently beefy internet connection).