Google cancels Chromebooks with NVidia GPUs

Google has canceled a project of reference motherboards codenamed Agah, Hades, and Herobrine with discrete GPUs, which could signal the abandonment of expensive gaming Chromebooks. Overlays and builders for them have already been disabled and removed.

Google announced the start of the project in 2021. Chromebooks with customizable keyboards with RGB lighting effects and high refresh rate displays were supposed to work with cloud gaming platforms like NVidia's GeForce Now and Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming.

In late 2022, a Chromebook more focused on local gaming was reported. Codenamed Hades, the reference motherboard came with a GeForce RTX 4050 discrete GPU, a chip designed to power entry-level Windows-based gaming laptops. In addition, Google has developed Agah and Herobrine reference designs with standalone NVidia GPUs.

Google has managed to adapt the Linux-based Steam client for Chrome OS. Thanks to the Linux architecture in the OS, it is possible to run many Windows games through the Proton layer. However, by the end of 2022, critical software such as anti-cheat systems for several online games remained incompatible. Performance lag on 2560x1440 and 4K displays and the need to find storage workarounds for gaming rigs could also potentially interfere.

In fact, the complexities of porting Windows games to Linux and Linux apps to ChromeOS would make Chromebooks significantly less appealing to gamers than traditional Windows laptops. This, combined with a general downturn in the PC market and the difficulty of integrating Nvidia GPU drivers into ChromeOS, may have influenced Google's decision to abandon the project.

In October 2022, Google released the Linux-based version of Chrome OS 106, as well as the first gaming Chromebooks. Chromebooks from Acer, Asus and Lenovo have received 120Hz displays, less than 85ms input lag gaming keyboards with RGB backlighting, Wi-Fi 6 support, an Intel Core i3/i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM and advanced audio systems.

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