latest
Buying blockbuster-level titles on Steam can be expensive. The average price of a Steam game has steadily risen since 2018 (data measured by Statista), which is why you never want to accidentally throw away Steam gift cards or misplace product codes. However, we can avoid these issues altogether by instantly redeeming our gift cards and product codes from the Steam app.
The Steam Android app is utterly broken and has been for several weeks
Yep, the app you need for two-factor authentication won't boot past a grey screen
You may have noticed more and more handheld content on the site, as gaming handhelds are a growing field Android is very much a part. This means we are regularly testing all manner of gaming products and apps, and Valve's Steam mobile app is very much a key part of that, which is why it was immediately apparent the app is horribly horribly broken, and has been for at least four weeks.
You may have heard your friends getting excited about the upcoming Winter Steam sale, saving their Steam gift cards to snag a hot deal on their favorite games. But what is Steam, and why is it popular? Steam is Valve's prized possession, a platform that has existed since 2003. It digitalized video games for computers, replacing the need to buy physically boxed PC games.
How to play Steam games on your Android phone
We’ll walk you through the steps of setting up a Steam Link on your device
Portable gaming devices are all the rage right now. This is evident by the popularity of devices such as Steam Deck and Nintendo's Switch. That said, you can play Steam games remotely on your favorite Android tablet or phone by installing the Steam Link app.
Steam is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS, and each operating system stores the downloads folder in a different place. Depending on your platform, you may have to dig deep into your computer’s files to view, modify, or delete files in your downloads folder. So, if you switched operating systems and can't find your Steam games, we're here to help.
Steam has been the most popular gaming platform for PC gamers for over a decade. The number of games, ease of use, and overall familiarity make Stream the go-to choice for many today. ChromeOS is the lightweight operating system that powersChromebooks and Chromeboxes. It's great for basic day-to-day tasks online, such as typing documents, streaming media, and browsing the web. Even the more premium Chromebooks are not considered high-end gaming PCs, but they can install Steam. In the following guide, we show you how to download Steam on a compatible Chromebook model.
How to request a refund on Steam to return your game
Returning a game on Steam is as easy as following a few simple steps
After loading up on Steam gift cards and redeeming Steam keys, you might be disappointed with some new additions sitting in your Steam library. Unfortunately, we all live to regret some impulsive purchases, and those games become an eye sore when we spot a flash sale (with the same games) not too long after. No matter the reason, we should always consider returning those Steam games. But going through hoops to put in a request to Valve might seem like a daunting process. But to streamline the Steam games refund process, we created a handy guide that teaches users how to return games on Steam with the essential guidelines that follow it — this way, you can get back to managing your Steam library through your favorite Android tablet or phone.
Nvidia is giving up on GameStream to the dismay of Shield TV owners
Well, at least some Shield TV owners aren't happy
There are way too many ways to play video games these days. It's a shame about being able to play them however you'd like, though, especially when you're dealing with different hardware platforms tied to different screens. There are ways to fill those gap, though; one of them being Nvidia's Shield TV, which lets users stream PC games to their living room sets. The company has announced, however, that it is bowing out of providing that crucial connection next year.
ChromeOS gets serious about gaming as Steam support enters beta
Complete with newly-supported hardware and an expanded list of recommended games
Gaming on ChromeOS has come a long way over the last decade. What started out as an impossibility — save for anything playable in a browser — has evolved into a cornucopia of options. Not only have Android games and cloud streaming transformed the best Chromebooks into capable methods for playing your favorite new titles, but Steam for ChromeOS has been in the development phase for years now. Today, Steam for Chromebooks is moving into beta, marking another step towards local PC gaming on Google's OS.
The redesigned Steam app is live, complete with a new login flow
Experience login convenience like never before
Steam has been a go-to hub for the gaming community for years, and even though the desktop app looks relatively modern, the same couldn't be said about the mobile app. Earlier this year, Valve decided it was finally time to beta test a replacement for the dated user interface of the Steam mobile app, complete with a striking new UI, framework, and several other changes, which are rolling out widely right now with the stable release.
Steam for ChromeOS is all but about to go live in beta
Opening up to more players in the ChromeOS beta channel
After years of rumors, Google announced that it was bringing popular gaming platform Steam to Chromebooks in Alpha in 2022. There were a lot of strings attached, though, which made it an ordeal to run the program for anyone who wants to use their capable Chromebooks for actual work, too. This could be about to change, as Google is preparing to move Steam support to the beta version of ChromeOS, which makes it much more accessible to a lot more gamers.
Steam's redesigned mobile app is a significant upgrade (APK Download)
You can join the open beta today
Over the years, Steam's desktop app has gone through numerous changes and updates, culminating in the sleek SteamOS for the Steam Deck. However, Valve has seen fit to let its mobile app settle in the cutting-edge visuals of 2015. Today marks a change, as Valve is now beta testing a wholly redesigned app for iOS and Android. It's not just a visual update; Valve has rebuilt the framework, resulting in an app that looks and feels significantly better than its predecessor.
Steam on Chrome OS explainer dashes hopes of easy modding (Update: Maybe not)
The Borealis VM's security stands in the way of tweaking configuration files or classical modding
Read update
One of the most interesting things about covering Google's technologies and products is how communicative the company can be when explaining how things work. It recently kicked off the first part of a planned series illuminating how it finagled Steam on Chromebooks. In this first high-level overview of the technologies involved, one key fact has already been detailed: Modifying games (even just to tweak configuration files) might be pretty hard, if not impossible.
Steam for Chrome OS Alpha hands-on: We're halfway there
The first Steam for Chrome OS version has my battery living on a prayer
Gaming on Chromebooks up to this point has been a compromise on top of awkwardness on top of half-measures. I say this on someone who has "gamed" on every Chromebook she's owned for the last four years — the only games I trusted to play properly on Chrome OS were casual games like Microsoft Solitaire Collection. This is why even before Google confirmed it was working with Steam on Chrome OS, it had been a rumor, a prayer that Chrome users had begged and dreamed of for years and years.
Here's how to install Steam on your Chromebook, with a first look at gaming performance
Our early impressions
After years of rumors and early previews, Steam on Chromebooks is finally here. Over the last day, we've had the chance to play with some of the games that Steam has brought to the platform, and I spent all night digging deep into the system. Overall, the experience has been surprisingly good, as long as you enter into the idea with certain expectations. And, if you want to give it a try yourself, it's not that hard to install — though don't do it on your "daily driver."
Chromebooks are finally getting Steam support after 2 years of teasers
Just be prepared for some buggy setups
During last week’s 2022 Google for Games Developer Summit, Chrome OS was lauded for a substantial rise in the number of Android games being played on the platform. Another low-key announcement perhaps unintentionally claimed that Steam for Chrome OS had launched in alpha. While this news turned out to be premature, it is becoming true today. After more than two years since Google revealed its collaboration with Valve, the first publicly available version of Steam for Chrome OS is now launching to eager guinea pigs users so they can try out their favorite games.
Google announces Steam alpha for Chrome OS, finally making it a real gaming platform
But you'll have to keep waiting to test it
Read update
It's been over two years since Android Police initially revealed that Steam was in the works for a Chrome OS release. In that time, we've seen incremental changes that showed again and again the feature was getting ever closer to release. You'd think an update as big as this would merit some sort of celebration, a major announcement from Google in partnership with Valve. Instead, the feature got a tossed-off remark at today's gaming-focused developer summit, officially marking the arrival of real games for Chrome OS.
Here are the Chromebook models that will support Steam for Chrome OS at launch
Steam-powered gameplay on your own Chromebook is just around the corner
It looked like Steam for Chrome OS, code-named "Borealis," might be on its way back in December, with visible information in the source code commits revealing that the operating system will have stable and beta channels for Steam integration. We first reported on the project two years ago, when Google's Director of Product Management revealed its existence — and while Google has decided to make us wait, there is fresh evidence that the implementation is happening. We also have a preliminary list of supported Chromebooks.
Chromebooks with Intel dGPUs might be on the horizon
Chromebooks for hardcore gamers may soon be a reality
Every day we inch closer to an official release of Steam on Chromebooks. But as intriguing as that sounds, Chromebooks have a reputation for being mainly productivity laptops — are they even built to handle the demands of hardcore gamers? Well, with modern AMD and Intel integrated graphics, lower-end gaming is already a reality. For newer and more intensive games like Forza Horizon 5, though, there’s still a lot left to be desired. Luckily Intel has a solution up its sleeves that sounds like it might be just the trick — Intel Arc Alchemist dGPUs could be coming to Chromebooks near you.
Official Steam for Chromebooks support could launch this month
Finally, it might nearly be time for Steam gaming on your Chromebook
Steam support for Chrome OS devices has been in development for a few years now. Code-named “Borealis," the system is intended to bring a fast, easy, and integrated gaming experience to Chromebooks. We've already looked into work on enabling the Vulkan graphics library in Crostini, unlocking gaming capabilities that will be required for Borealis. Now we've uncovered another important piece of the puzzle, as the first system flags arrive for the Borealis beta.