According to the technical support service Windows 7 and Windows 8 support / Steam Support Service Steam, from January 1, 2024, the launcher will stop working on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. The decision is explained by the termination of support for these versions by the Google Chrome browser, on which the store and part of the social functions on Steam rely. Another reason is the features and security updates required for future versions of Steam and available only on Windows 10 and newer.
The latest statistics on hardware from Valve revealed that among all computers on which Steam is installed, only 1% runs on a version lower than Windows 10. It may seem that this is not enough, but as of December 2023, the estimated number of Steam users is 1.2 billion — which means that about 12 million people will remain without access to games.
In parallel, the developers of the popular "battle royale" PUBG announced End of service for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 / PUBG that the game will no longer be supported on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1, starting on January 1, 2024 — and not only on Steam, but also on other platforms, including Epic Games and Kakao. The decision is associated with the priorities of supporting and ensuring the operation of the anti-cheat system on current versions of Windows.
