Steam has finally stopped working on several older Windows operating systems, following a warning from Valve that it planned to drop support earlier this year. With little fanfare, Windows 7 and Windows 8 gaming on Steam is no longer possible following the most recent Steam client update on November 5.
This new Steam update shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, with Microsoft support for these older Windows systems ending years ago. The best gaming PCs aren’t running Windows 7 or Windows 8 these days, either, and Valve has already given plenty of notice for the switch, with the plan for Steam dropping older Windows versions being in the pipeline for at least two years.
This news leaves just Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux, and macOS as the only operating systems supported by Valve’s gaming platform. In the latest Steam hardware survey, just 0.28% were still using Steam on Windows 7, while the number using Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 was so minuscule, that these gamers are listed as just “other”, making up just 0.08% of Steam’s total player base.
For those loyal Windows 7 gamers, then, it’s the end of an era. Steam has supported Windows 7 since the platform launched in 2009, and now, 15 years on, that support is ending. For PC gamers, the best option is to upgrade to Windows 11, the latest Microsoft operating system, which recently became the most popular Steam OS for gamers.
If Windows isn’t your thing, though, there are other options. You could choose to pick up a Steam Deck, which uses Valve’s own custom Linux distribution called SteamOS, allowing you to play Steam games without relying on Microsoft. That doesn’t stop you from installing Windows 11 on the Steam Deck if you want to, however.
If you’re interested, check out our Steam Deck OLED review to see how Valve’s latest gaming handheld stacks up as a truly handheld gaming machine. You can also check out our best gaming handheld PC guide to read about some of the high-powered competitors, including the Asus Rog Ally X, which is the current best option for handheld Windows gaming.
