Steam no longer supports Windows 7, 8 and 8.1

Valve stopped supporting Steam on Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 on January 1, 2024. The company had already announced this decision last year. The software will continue to work for a while, but there will be no more updates.

Valve writes on its support page that the Steam software, apps and games will continue to run for some time, but the company cannot guarantee for how long. Users with Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 will also no longer be able to receive help with technical problems.

According to Valve, this decision was necessary. Steam uses the Chromium Embedded Framework: an extension of the Chromium rendering engine. According to the company, that framework would no longer function on older versions of Windows. Valve also believes that future versions of Steam will use features and security updates from Windows 10 and 11. The company therefore recommends that all Steam users with Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 move to a more recent version of the operating system.

Update, 10:15 am: The article initially stated that Steam includes an embedded version of Google Chrome. That is not correct. The gaming software uses the Chromium Embedded Framework. Thanks to MaestroMaus.