Steam drops support for Windows 7 and 8 with latest update
What just happened? The latest version of the Steam client has ended support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. While this may be a bitter pill for gamers who continue to use these legacy operating systems, it’s not unexpected – Valve announced last year that support for older Windows versions would end in 2024.
In an official announcement accompanying its latest update, Valve stated that the newest Steam client, released on November 5, “will no longer run on Windows 7 or Windows 8,” and users on these operating systems will not receive further updates. Windows users on legacy versions must now upgrade to Windows 10 or 11 to continue using Steam on their PCs.
Valve also ended support for older macOS versions, including macOS 10.13 High Sierra and macOS 10.14 Mojave. Now, only Mac users running macOS 10.15 Catalina or later can access Steam. The latest macOS version, macOS 15 Sequoia, was released in September 2024.
The latest Steam hardware and software survey reveals that only a small number of gamers still use Windows 7. According to the October 2024 survey, Windows 11 is the most popular OS on Steam at 48.80 percent, while Windows 10 holds the second spot with a 47.46 percent share. Windows 7, in contrast, is used by only 0.28 percent of Steam gamers, meaning Valve’s decision will affect very few people.
Valve explained it needed to drop support for Windows 7 and 8 as core features in Steam rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome, which no longer functions on these older Windows versions. The public-facing version of Google Chrome, however, still operates on Windows 7 and 8, as do most other browsers, including Firefox, Brave, and Opera.
Microsoft officially ended support for Windows 7 back in January 2020, and Windows 8 reached its end-of-life in January 2023, in line with its update policy. Windows 10 is also set to reach its end-of-life in October 2025, which means users will likely need to upgrade to Windows 11 or newer to keep using Steam in the coming years.
