Chrome OS machines can only support the ability to play games on Steam, although we do not know exactly when.
Speaking for Police androidChrome OS product chief Liu Kang has confirmed Google is working -- perhaps even with Valve -- on an effort that will allow Chromebooks to run Steam, Valve's gaming platform. He also said that more powerful Chromebooks are coming down the pike, and that we can expect new platforms with AMD processors. But he didn't provide any release dates or reveal when Steam support would arrive.
Google has been tinkering with Chrome OS for the past few years. It supports Android applications, such as opening a laptop device to hundreds of new mobile experiences. Now, with steam, it seems to do the same for the game.
- Our selection of Chrome OS laptops
Steam and Chrome OS both based on Linux. However, Chromebooks tend to be for low-end devices, and many games on Steam are graphically intensive. We assume that this is why Liu promised us more reliable automata; support on a high end Chrome OS device would be super enticing.
Now, though, it's hard to imagine Chromebooks running Steam smoothly. Also, we are very excited about what the future will bring. Keep in mind Steam also supports game streaming from other computers. But Liu pointed out that Google is only paying attention to native gameplay right now.
We could introduce Google to turning Chrome OS, however. It's a cloud-based operating system, after all, and Google also has stadiums, a cloud-based gaming streaming service that doesn't require high-performance hardware. It will be interesting to see when or even if these two roads ever meet.