Google said Steam has arrived on Chromebooks, but now says it’s ‘soon’

Google announced that some ChromeOS users will finally be able to start testing Steam during the Google Games Developer Summit, but later revised this message to say an alpha version “is coming soon.”

During the keynote, Google Product Manager for Games Greg Hartell, announce that “Steam alpha just launched” for some select Chromebooks and directed viewers to the Chromebook community forum for more information. At the time, it seemed that the promised post didn’t exist yet, but it was Added later with slightly revised message:

Hello Chromebook community,

As you may have already heard, our team is working with Valve to bring Steam to Chrome OS. We’re very excited to share that we’ll be dropping an early alpha-quality version of Steam on Chrome OS in the Dev Channel for a small group of Chromebooks soon. Please come back to the forum for more information!

Anyone holding their breath on Steam on ChromeOS will probably be familiar with this, because it’s been such a long time — Google announced that it’s been working on software support on Chromebooks At the beginning of 2020There hasn’t been much information since then. However, there have been whispers that we will see it soon, as recent reports have indicated that companies are working on Chromebooks that focus on gaming.

Despite how long we’ve been waiting for, Hartell’s announcement came as a bit of a surprise. as 9to5GoogleKyle Bradshaw tweetedIn fact, people have been trying to learn more about Steam on ChromeOS for months, combing through code and developer feedback — only for Google to announce it with an unofficial nod during the developer keyword.

This key also went on Google Revised plans for its Stadia service – T.L.; DR is that they plan to offer free demos and trials, as well as make things easier for developers. you can watch it hereor less (Steam is said to be around 14 minutes).

It’s understandable why Google wants to be relatively quiet about the launch; Since it’s set to alpha, it will probably be a little rough around the edges. There is also limited availability. Google hasn’t said which PCs Steam will be available on, but 9to5Google she has List discovered last month. Includes x86 based laptops like Acer Chromebook Spin 713 and the Asus Flip CX5along with some other models.

Update, March 16 5:18 PM ET: Updated to reflect Google’s community post, which stated that Steam alpha was not available immediately and instead was “soon”.