Here's How You Can Play PC Games On Your Chromebook

Gaming on a Chromebook is easier than ever, and there are an increasing number of ways to play games from PCs and consoles. Chromebooks gained a foothold in the PC market by being relatively cheap and easy to use compared to Windows and Mac devices. ChromeOS is lightweight and primarily web-based, which allows it to run smoothly on devices that would be bogged down by more popular desktop operating systems. As a result, Chromebooks have often been branded as suitable for light office or school work, but not for tasks like gaming that require serious horsepower.

While it's true that Chromebooks don't come with discrete GPUs or other features typical of the best Windows gaming laptops, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy a wide variety of gaming experiences. Not only are a surprising number of titles available to download and run, but Chromebooks are also well-suited to the increasingly viable world of cloud gaming, enabling you to play the latest PC games. And while your ability to play games right on your laptop will scale with the quality of its hardware, cloud gaming is only bottlenecked by your internet connection. So, from your favorite games on the big screen to the latest AAA titles anywhere you can find some decent Wi-Fi — and plenty of fun in between — here's how to enjoy your favorite PC games on a Chromebook.

If your Chromebook has beefy enough hardware, you can run games on the computer itself using the Google Play Store or Steam. ChromeOS runs Android apps through a compatibility layer, so most games available on Android devices will work on your Chromebook. More titles originally meant for console and PC continue to make their way to the Play Store, with the widely acclaimed "Disco Elysium" making its way to the platform in the near future. In some cases, games designed for touch input may not work well with a mouse and keyboard, so take things on a case-by-case basis. Some games won't even be available for ChromeOS, and you'll see a notice that those apps aren't compatible with your device when viewing them in the Play Store. Additionally, if you have converted a Windows laptop into a Chromebook using ChromeOS Flex, you cannot access the Google Play Store.

Meanwhile, PC gaming mainstay Steam is also available on Chromebooks. Parent company Valve has spent years developing a robust Linux platform for Steam, culminating in its Windows alternative for gaming handhelds, SteamOS. That work benefits other Linux-based platforms too, and ChromeOS is no exception. If you have a compatible Chromebook, installing Steam is as easy as searching for it in the system launcher and clicking install. 

There is a limited number of officially supported titles, but you can try to push the limits. Decade-old classics like "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" will run well on some systems, but most Chromebooks will struggle to make "Cyberpunk 2077" playable. All in all, many casual gamers will be pleasantly surprised by the ever-increasing library of games that can run directly on their Chromebooks, but don't expect console-level performance for more demanding titles.

With a lot of Linux know-how and a Chromebook with relatively hearty specs, you might have better luck than most at gaming locally. However, ChromeOS is much better suited for cloud gaming. With services like NVIDIA GeForce Now, Xbox Game Pass, or Amazon Luna, you can stream the latest and greatest games, regardless of how much computing power they require. These services run the games from a data center, then stream the visuals to your Chromebook. It's like Netflix, but for games.

Of course, you'll need a stable and relatively high-speed Internet connection to make game streaming viable. If your connection is good, you'll find that many games are almost as good as if you were playing them on a high-end gaming PC. If not, games will quickly degrade into grainy, glitchy messes, rendering them pretty much unplayable. If any of those services offer a free trial, it's a good idea to try them out before committing to a monthly subscription.

Google has even designated a range of so-called gaming Chromebooks, which are specifically designed for cloud gaming. They offer higher-quality, high-refresh-rate displays, keyboards with gaming features such as anti-ghosting, and software tools built into ChromeOS for recording gameplay and more. If you're shopping for one of these, prioritize the display. Cloud gaming is only as good as the display it streams to.