Games on Chromebook – Steam Beta tested with several existing games

There is not much difference between the Windows and Linux versions of Steam. All applications offered by the Steam game suite are available for download. But not all games work on Linux and ChromeOS. In principle, all Steam games that do not use DirectX 12 run on Linux. Proton supports older versions of DirectX, Vulkan, and OpenGL. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to predict which games will be played on Chromebook. Even compatibility lists that can be found on various websites sometimes don’t help. The Steamdeck filter provides an initial overview of which games to run from your library.

All games running on Steamdeck must also run on Linux or ChromeOS. After all, the Linux version runs on Steamdeck. However, we find many exceptions in our game library. For example, F1 2022 and F1 2020 were verified on Steamdeck but wouldn’t play on our Chromebook. Similarly, Hogwarts Legacy, GRID, Fall Guys, and other games are not playable.

So we tested more than 20 games. Of these, the following continued steadily and without limitation:

• Apex Legends
• ARK: Survival Evolved
• Counter Strike: Global Offensive
• The Sims 4
• Dota 2
• Formula 1 2017
• Mafia: Definitive Edition
• Payday 2
• Get stuck guys
• strange brigade

Rocket League also ran on the Chromebook Flip CX5. While the game itself ran at good frame rates, there were problems with the input hardware. The game constantly refused to recognize the Chromebook’s touchpad and keyboard inputs. A USB-connected keyboard and gamepad are detected. Other games crash after a while for no apparent reason, or stop. For example, F1 2021 and Horizon Zero Dawn were affected by this behaviour.