Steam officially ends support for Windows 7 and Windows 8

En un anuncio sorprendente, Steam ha decidido finalizar su soporte para los sistemas operativos Windows 7 y Windows 8, a partir del 1 de febrero de 2024. Esto significa que los usuarios que todavía ejecutan estas versiones obsoletas de Windows ya no podrán acceder a su Steam. biblioteca, descargar juegos nuevos o recibir actualizaciones y parches para sus juegos existentes.

Steam’s decision comes as a result of the declining market share of Windows 7 and Windows 8, which together account for less than 5% of Steam users, according to Steam’s latest hardware and software survey.

Steam claims that supporting these legacy operating systems is becoming increasingly difficult and costly, as they no longer receive security updates and feature enhancements from Microsoft.

Steam also cites the need to focus on improving the performance and compatibility of its platform with the latest technologies, such as DirectX 12, Vulkan, ray tracing and VR. By removing support for Windows 7 and Windows 8, Steam hopes to offer a better gaming experience to its users who have upgraded to Windows 10 or newer versions of Windows.

Steam advises its users who are still running Windows 7 or Windows 8 to upgrade their operating system as soon as possible, before the February 1, 2024 deadline. Users who fail to do so will lose access to their Steam account and games, and will not be able to get them back unless they upgrade their operating system. Steam also warns that some games may not run properly or may not run on unsupported operating systems, even if they are installed locally.

Steam’s decision to end support for Windows 7 and Windows 8 is likely to affect a small but loyal group of gamers who have resisted upgrading their operating system for a variety of reasons. Some may have compatibility issues with their hardware or software, some may prefer the user interface or features of previous versions of Windows, and some may simply be reluctant to change their habits.

However, Steam’s decision is also likely to encourage more developers and publishers to optimize their games for the latest versions of Windows, which could benefit most Steam users in the long run.

Steam’s latest hardware survey reveals that nearly 99 percent of Windows users on the platform have upgraded to Windows 10 or 11, leaving only a small fraction of users with Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. However, those users will no longer be supported by Valve, as the company has officially announced that it will stop supporting Steam on Windows 7 and 8 as of January 1.

«This means that Steam support will not be able to assist users with technical issues related to outdated operating systems, and Steam cannot guarantee that the software will continue to function properly,» reads the official statement on Valve’s support page.

The reason for this decision is that Steam’s internal browser relies on built-in components from Google Chrome, which has also dropped support for older versions of Windows. While it is possible that Steam will still run on Windows 7 and 8 for a while, Valve is not offering any guarantees. The company urges users to update their operating systems as soon as possible to avoid potential problems.