Valve introduced that its Steam on-line sport platform will formally drop help for the Home windows 7, Home windows 8, and Home windows 8.1 platforms beginning January 1st, 2024.

As soon as it reaches the end-of-support date, the Steam Consumer software program will cease engaged on these out-of-support Home windows variations, with Valve recommending customers to improve to a newer Home windows model to proceed taking part in their video games through Steam.

“This alteration is required as core options in Steam depend on an embedded model of Google Chrome, which now not features on older variations of Home windows,” Valve stated.

“As well as, future variations of Steam would require Home windows characteristic and safety updates solely current in Home windows 10 and above.”

Valve additionally strongly inspired customers to improve their Home windows 7/8/8.1 techniques as quickly as potential earlier than help ends in January 2024 to safe them from malware or different malicious assaults focusing on them if left uncovered on the Web.

“That malware may cause your PC, Steam and video games to carry out poorly or crash. That malware will also be used to steal the credentials on your Steam account or different providers.”

Customers working Home windows 7 or Home windows 8.1 can nonetheless improve to Home windows 10 at no cost utilizing a digital license regardless that the corporate introduced it will finish this promotional provide on July 29, 2016.

Home windows 7 prolonged safety updates resulted in January

As we speak’s announcement comes after Microsoft revealed on January tenth, 2023, that it stopped offering safety updates and technical help for all Home windows 7 editions (together with Skilled and Enterprise).

All editions of Home windows 8.1, launched 9 years in the past in November 2013, have additionally reached EOS on the identical day.

Presently, Home windows 7 runs on over 5.39% of all Home windows techniques worldwide and Home windows 8.1 is utilized by 1.15% of shoppers, each rapidly dropping market share since Microsoft’s January announcement, in line with Statcounter GlobalStats.

Microsoft and Steam usually are not the one corporations giving up on Home windows 7 and eight, with an identical announcement by Google saying that Chrome model 110 can be dropping help for Home windows 7/8.1 beginning February 2023.

Different distributors dropped help for the 2 out-of-support working techniques earlier than Microsoft introduced they’d cease receiving safety updates.

For example, NVIDIA stopped offering Home windows 7 and eight.1 drivers final 12 months in October 2021.

The affect of this alteration will possible be minimal since just one.58% of customers are nonetheless utilizing Home windows 7 whereas 0.36% run Home windows 8.1, in line with the Steam February 2023 {Hardware} & Software program survey.