• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Gameranx

Gameranx

Video Game News, Lists & Guides

  • News
  • Features
  • Platforms
    • Xbox Series X
    • PS5
    • Nintendo
  • Videos
  • Upcoming Games
  • Guides
  • News
  • Features
  • Platforms
    • Xbox Series X
    • PS5
    • Nintendo
  • Videos
  • Upcoming Games
  • Guides

Steam Will Stop Running On Windows 7 And Windows 8.1 Soon

March 28, 2023 by Ryan Parreno

Most gamers may not recognize it but this deprecation of Steam will also harm video game preservation.

Valve has announced that Steam will soon stop ending support on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

To be specific, Steam will stop running on these operating systems on January 2024. They explained the reason for this on a blog post on the official blog:

“The newest features in Steam rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome, which no longer functions on older versions of Windows. In addition, future versions of Steam will require Windows feature and security updates only present in Windows 10 and above.”

So if you weren’t aware of this before, you should know now that Valve’s Steam client uses an embedded version of Google Chrome. While Google Chrome is the most popular web browser today, and definitely one of the fastest if not the fastest, Chrome is also associated with data collection and loss of privacy protections.

It is certainly easy to be complacent in thinking that Valve is doing everything right by their users. But if you had concerns that using Chrome compromised your security, in particular if you individually good reasons to be wary of using the browser, you needed to know this.

As reported by Dexerto, less than 2 % of all Steam users use Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. That does mean only a very small number of Steam users would be affected by this change. But there’s something else going on.

If you lamented the recent closure of the Wii U and 3DS eShops, and also spoke out against Sony closing the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita stores, you should know that this is the same sort of thing Valve is doing now, at a smaller scale.

Now, it may be hard to visualize exactly what games we are talking about here. Let me list a few examples of games that can run on Windows 7:

  • Bioshock
  • BulletStorm
  • Dragon Age: Origins
  • Fallout: New Vegas
  • Mass Effect 2
  • Plants vs Zombies
  • Super Meat Boy
  • Torchlight

Now, many of these games will also run on Windows 10, and Windows 11 now. Many have also received remakes and remasters to update them to modern systems. But this deprecation of support for older systems still has an effect on the preservation of older games, losing the authenticity of that game experience.

But this experience is not unique to PC. The PlayStation 3 store, in spite of staying online, is hardly used to justify its continued existence. The gamers who demanded it stay online may not know, or even cared to check, that many of the games they used to play on it are no longer on the store, or their online features have been removed.

As I had explained when reporting about the Wii U and 3DS eShop stores yesterday, this deprecation of these store platforms is inevitable, for a variety of reasons. But in this case, there will be no such online outrage, because gamers won’t even understand that something was lost.

Share this post:

FacebookTwitterLinkedInPinterest

Recent Videos

20 Games That HUMILIATE You For Playing BADLY

20 Games That HUMILIATE You For Playing BADLY

EA SETS INSANE TARGET FOR BATTLEFIELD 6, SUBNAUTICA 2 IN TROUBLE & MORE

EA SETS INSANE TARGET FOR BATTLEFIELD 6, SUBNAUTICA 2 IN TROUBLE & MORE

10 Best Games Where The STORY SUCKS

10 Best Games Where The STORY SUCKS

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 - Before You Buy

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 - Before You Buy

10 Recent UNLOCKABLES That Pushed Players To Their LIMITS

10 Recent UNLOCKABLES That Pushed Players To Their LIMITS

10 Games That Turned Into MICROTRANSACTION HELLS

10 Games That Turned Into MICROTRANSACTION HELLS

10 GENIUS moments in Flop Games

10 GENIUS moments in Flop Games

10 Games That RUINED Single Player Games For Us

10 Games That RUINED Single Player Games For Us

20 LEGENDARY Games Worth Revisiting in 2025

20 LEGENDARY Games Worth Revisiting in 2025

Category: UpdatesTag: PC, Steam, Valve

Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Rematch: How to Access Freeplay Mode
  • Rematch: Best Camera Settings | Beginner and Advanced
  • Fortnite: How to get the Exotic Unstable Bounce Grenade
  • Death Stranding 2: Where To Find Golden Chiral Creatures
  • Death Stranding 2: How To Watch An Insane Dollman Dance Sequence

Copyright © 2025 · Gameranx · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme