Windows 7 and 8 users will no longer be able to use current, and future clients as Steam officially ends support for the older OSes. It had already been announced last January that Steam would be ending support for the two operating systems that preceded Windows 10. While Windows 7 gained a strong following among PC users, both in the gaming and business sectors, Windows 8 never fully gained traction. Despite its 8.1 update, it didn’t last very long until it was succeeded by 10 in 2015. As Steam officially ends support for them, users still holding onto either will no longer receive updated clients as of November 5.
Official announcement:
- “This version of the Steam client will no longer run on Windows 7 or Windows 8. Users on these OS versions will not automatically update to this new version of the Steam Client. See the Windows 7 and Windows 8 Support FAQ for additional details.”
While users’ games should continue to function, Steam emphasizes that it will not be able to guarantee technical support for them. Additionally, security updates will not be rolled out to those using older clients for unsupported operating systems, nor will those systems have access to newer functions and features. Steam has not said how much longer it will continue to support Windows 10 but Microsoft has already announced its EOL will happen on October 14, 2025.
Per Windows 7 and 8 Support FAQ:
- “As of January 1 2024, Steam stopped supporting the Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 operating systems. 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.”
- “To continue using of Steam and any games or other products purchased through Steam, users should update to a more recent version of Windows. 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.”