Google just announced that it is expanding the testing of Steam on ChromeOS to a broader audience to include both the Beta channel of the OS and the Dev channel. Google also detailed some big changes to the hardware requirements for the experience, so that more folks with Chromebooks can get in and install Steam without worrying about underlying issues.

In coming to this decision, Google says that it understood the initial testing of Steam in the ChromeOS Dev channel was limited because of "inherent instability." Now, Chromebook users can enjoy Steam with little risk, since the ChromeOS beta channel offers a more stable operating system experience. The change applies starting with ChromeOS beta 108.0.5359.24 or greater and opens up hundreds more Steam games to playable status.

On the hardware side of things, considering a new wave of Cloud Gaming Chromebooks, Google also opened up support for more devices to enjoy Steam on ChromeOS. Chromebooks with AMD Ryzen 5000 C-Series and Intel 12th Gen Core CPUs are now supported. Google even lowered the requirements to include Intel Core i3 CPUs, as well as AMD Ryzen 3 CPUs found in popular mid-range Chromebooks. The best specs for the best experience, though, are still unchanged and suggested at 16GB of RAM, as well as an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 CPU.

When it comes to the technical side of things, there are a few under-the-hood changes to Steam on ChromeOS, too. While storage for Steam games was previously managed based on the installation size on Steam, Google now improved this to use sparse disk and ballooning. This can help with improved file access performance. Power management, reduced CPU overhead, and a quicker process of using the #enable-borealis flag in ChromeOS flags to install Steam are some other tweaks. More importantly, Google even improved the scaling system so that you can play more games on Chromebooks with QHD or UHD displays, or external displays that run at these resolutions.

Keep in mind, though, that this experience is still in beta testing and is all about gathering feedback. Some games will still run into issues here and there. Google suggests manually adjusting in-game settings and reducing resolution, disabling v-Sync, and reducing graphics presets. A full list of compatible Steam games on ChromeOS and known issues are available through Google.

Source: Google