Steam has officially pulled the plug on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 operating systems.
The platform says that after 1 January 2024, existing Steam Client installations on these operating systems will no longer receive updates of any kind including security updates.
Steam Support will be unable to offer users technical support for issues related to the old operating systems, and Steam will be unable to guarantee continued functionality of Steam on the unsupported operating system versions.
Steam
Steam recommends updating to a more recent version of Windows if you still want to play any games or use other products purchased through Steam.
We expect the Steam client and games on these older operating systems to continue running for some time without updates after January 1st, 2024, but we are unable to guarantee continued functionality after that date.
Steam
They said that the change is required as core features in Steam rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome, which no longer functions on older versions of Windows.
Steam added that future versions of the gaming platform will require Windows features and security updates only present in Windows 10 and above.
We strongly encourage all Windows 7/8/8.1 users to update sooner rather than later. Microsoft ended security updates and technical support for Windows 7 in January 2020 and for Windows 8.1 in January 2023. Computers running these operating systems, when connected to the internet, are susceptible to new malware and other exploits which will not be patched. That malware can cause your PC, Steam and games to perform poorly or crash. That malware can also be used to steal the credentials for your Steam account or other services.
Steam
