Steam for ChromeOS will now run on lower-end processors

While Google’s ChromeOS platform isn’t necessarily one that you would associate with games, Google has made some strides on that front such as bringing support for Valve’s Steam storefront which was launched earlier this year.

Now, at the start, Steam required users to own a Chromebook that had an Intel i5 or i7 or better, meaning that those who might have purchased a cheaper, lower-end Chromebook were out of luck, but that is changing now. Google has widened the testing program for Steam on ChromeOS which will now support Intel’s i3 processors and AMD’s Ryzen 3.

Before you get too excited though, keep in mind that it will need to be an 11th Gen Intel processor, meaning that if you own a Chromebook with a 10th Gen Intel i3, then you would be out of luck. This essentially affects most Chromebooks that were released in 2020. If you happen to own a newer Chromebook, then you should be good to go.

There are other restrictions though, besides the processor. Users will still need to have a Chromebook with at least 8GB of RAM, so if for whatever reason your Chromebook has less than that, you won’t be able to use Steam on it. Steam for ChromeOS still hasn’t been fully rolled out yet as it is still in alpha testing, but the changes and support for lower-end processors is still good news that users can look forward to in the future.

Source: 9to5Google