Chromebooks have come a good distance from their origins as low-cost, budget-friendly laptops with small shows which can be meant for youths and the classroom. One person section they haven’t but reached, nevertheless, is avid gamers. That might quickly change now that Google is bringing Steam to Chrome OS.

On Tuesday, Google launched an alpha model of Steam on Chrome OS for a small set of newer Chromebooks. Google has Valve to thank for its Proton compatibility layer, which permits Google’s Linux-based working system to play Windows video games on Steam. This is identical important piece of software program employed by Valve’s Steam Deck, a Linux-based handheld gaming console able to operating a number of the hottest Windows PC video games.

Steam is barely being examined on higher-end Chromebooks due to the efficiency calls for of many video games, although the adoption of Steam suggests full-blown gaming Chromebooks might be on the horizon. System necessities for this alpha embody Intel Iris Xe Graphics, eleventh Gen Core i5 or Core i7 processors, and a minimum of 8GB of RAM. This leaves alpha testers with a small pool of laptops to select from:

• 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

Chromebook followers accustomed to these units might have observed that all of them run on built-in graphics. There are studies of Chromebooks with discrete GPUs launching someday this 12 months, however as of now, none exist. Much just like the Steam Deck, a system with sufficient oomph to run most video games at 720p at Medium settings, these Chromebooks received’t be capable to play each recreation within the Steam library.

So far, Google has verified just a few dozen video games as playable on the aforementioned Chromebooks, together with Hades, Portal 2, Dead Cells, Sid Meier’s Civilization V, and Left 4 Dead 2. Some video games run with an asterisk; for instance, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition require a Core i7 CPU and 16GB of RAM, and solely play on Medium graphics settings.

With Steam on Chrome OS being in its alpha stage, Google could be very early within the technique of figuring out how properly video games play on varied Chrome OS programs, and whether or not there may be sufficient urge for food from customers to undertake this compatibility.

I’m intrigued by this improvement, although it does elevate just a few considerations. Chrome OS is a light-weight working system based mostly across the cloud, and as such, Chromebooks are usually offered with decrease storage quantities. If you bought a Chromebook with a 128GB SSD–one of many bigger quantities provided on a contemporary Chromebook–you would possibly solely have area to obtain two or three video games.

There can be the query of thermals: can a system that was constructed with out gaming in thoughts preserve its cool below a heavier-than-normal load? Also, Google may also have to be clear about which video games can and may’t run on sure programs–one thing Valve has mastered on the Steam Deck.

These considerations, together with recreation compatibility, are a number of the issues Google hopes alpha testers might help reply. If you need to be one among them, you may swap to the Dev channel on a supported Chromebook. Just don’t use a tool you depend on as a result of the alpha channel is inherently unstable. Once within the Dev channel, navigate to chrome://flags#borealis-enabled and set it to enabled. Restart your system and, in a crosh terminal (ctrl+alt+t) sort “insert_coin volteer-JOlkth573FBLGa.” From there, observe the steps to obtain Steam.

Google didn’t present a timeline for when it hopes to roll out Steam for Chrome OS to a wider viewers. In the meantime, we’ll take a look at this function ourselves and let you know the way it goes.