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Steam to end support for Windows 7 and 8 early next year

The Steam Client will no longer run on Windows versions 7, 8, and 8.1 starting next year.

Morgan Shaver

March 28, 2023 9:20 AM

Steam

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If you’ve yet to upgrade Windows to more recent versions like Windows 10, you may find yourself in a pinch next year when it comes to running the Steam Client. As was recently announced in a Steam Support post, Steam is ending support of Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 operating systems starting January 1, 2024.

Once this happens, the Steam Client will no longer run on those versions of Windows and users will need to update their system to a more recent version of Windows in order to continue running Steam, games, or products purchased through Steam.

The news comes on the heels of Microsoft ending support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 back on January 10 of this year. Furthermore, companies like Epic Games also ceased support of Windows 7 and 8 for games like Fortnite earlier this month. As elaborated on by the Steam Support post, one reason for this cessation of support for older versions is due to new features within Steam that require an embedded version of Google Chrome.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t work on older versions of Windows including 7, 8, and 8.1. Additionally, future versions of Steam “will require Windows feature and security updates only present in Windows 10 and above” so if you’re wondering about which version to update to, Windows 10 or 11 seem to be the best bet.

Now that you’re caught up with Steam ending support for Windows versions 7, 8, and 8.1 be sure to read through some of our previous coverage including Dark and Darker being delisted on Steam following cease and desist from Nexon, and how Valve is building a Source 2 Item Workshop for Counter-Strike 2 community map creators.

Morgan Shaver

Senior Editor

Morgan is a writer from the frozen wastelands of Maine who enjoys metal music, kpop, horror, and indie games. They're also a Tetris fanatic who's fiercely competitive in games like Tetris 99... and all games in general. But mostly Tetris. You can follow Morgan on Twitter @Author_MShaver.