Steam dropped support for older Windows systems
Along with Epic Games, Steam is the most popular platform for buying, downloading and sharing PC games. They recently revealed that most gamers, as many as 95 %, have already switched to the newer Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems.
Although Steam is no longer supported on Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, users can still access their games. However, Valve cautions that the service may be discontinued at any time, as it depends on the built-in version of the Google Chrome browser. As a reminder, Google ended support for Windows 7 in January 2023, and Chrome 109 was the last version available on old versions of Windows.
In addition to relying on the Chrome browser, Steam for Windows will soon require special operating system features and security components not available in Windows 7, 8, and 8.1.
As Valve cannot guarantee the uninterrupted operation of its gaming platform on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 operating systems, customers using these operating systems can expect the service to stop working at any moment. In addition, they will no longer receive technical support.