Valve has announced that Steam is no longer officially compatible with Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. The Steam application will now only work with the operating systems Windows 10, Windows 11, and Linux distros.
Steam: No longer works on Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1
After many years of support for the operating systems Windows 7 and Windows 8, Valve has announced the end of support for these operating systems, with the reasons being an indirect result of updates to Google Chrome.
It turns out that Steam integrates the Google Chrome browser, a browser that, by early 2023, had ended updates on Windows 7 operating systems. This means that there are no longer security updates for Google Chrome on the Windows 7 operating system, which could pose a security risk for Steam players. Microsoft had ended security updates for this operating system in 2020 and for Windows 8.1 in 2023.
We strongly recommend all Windows 7/8/8.1 users to upgrade as soon as possible. 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 that will not be patched. This malware can cause your PC, Steam, and your games to malfunction or fail. This malware can also be used to steal your Steam account credentials or other services.
Thus, Valve is recommending all players switch to the operating system Windows 10 or Windows 11 to avoid security issues. This decision may accelerate the adoption of Microsoft’s latest operating systems among gamers.
Currently, the operating systems Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 represent around 5% of Steam players. We will keep you informed.