Windows 8 users can no longer game via Steam. Here’s why.

The new year brought bad news for the few people out there who are still using Windows 7 and 8. Steam has officially ended support for the decades-old operating systems.

As of January 1, 2024, Steam has pulled support for Windows 7 and 8.1 due to core features of the platform relying on updated versions of Google Chrome, which only function on Windows 10 and above. In a Steam FAQ blog post, it wrote that "existing Steam Client installations on these operating systems will no longer receive updates of any kind including security updates."

The news shouldn't be that much of a shock; the gaming distributor announced in March of last year its plan to discontinue support for Windows 7/8.1. In that announcement, Steam revealed that only less than 2 percent of the service's 132M active users still use the operating systems.

Both operating systems are on their last legs these days. Microsoft officially ended support for Windows 7 in 2020 and just ended support for 8.1 in January 2023. Even Windows 10 is coming to the end of its life cycle with the tech giant announcing plans to end free updates for the OS in 2025. So enjoy these operating systems while you can before we're all forced to use Windows 11.