If you are a Steam user and have not migrated from Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1So you know that your time to enjoy the Play Store in any of these versions of the Microsoft operating system is running out. You have half a year left before Valve ends support.

This is nothing new, by the way. The person responsible for Steam already warned about the end of support a little over a month ago, although they did so through an official statement on the website and in the beta client of Steam. A version under development that has already “graduated” and is distributed to all users of the service.

Which of course means that this warning will start appearing for all Steam users on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1, as many are reporting on various Internet forums. How is this warning displayed? in the form of a banner at the top of the application, highlighted in red and counting down in days.

But what exactly does the end of Steam support mean? Will Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 users still be able to use the app after the date is reached, or will they simply stop receiving app updates? If you are interested because it was modus operandi Since most of the software is discontinued for unmaintained versions of Windows, we have some bad news for you.

Steam on Windows 7 | Image: gHacks

And that’s it Starting January 1, 2024, all Steam users on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 will lose access to their game library.. Or what’s the same, they’ll be able to continue running the client, but what they’ll see when they do is an empty shell.

Of course, this does not mean that anyone loses their game library (something easily verifiable since Windows 7, access to the Steam website), just that in Windows versions of the past it is game over and the most effective way to do this is to block any connection to Steam servers.

And those who have the games installed – and thus downloaded – will be able to continue playing them? Experience suggests yes, but it’s a sad fix when a free upgrade to Windows 10 is still an option. In addition, it is a familiar version that does not expect surprises.

Why is Valve doing this? For the same reason as all companies that have pulled support for some versions an operating system that is no longer maintained and which is a potential source of all sorts of problems, especially from a security point of view. Because of this, and because “Steam’s newer features are based on an integrated version of Google Chrome that no longer works in previous versions of Windows… In addition, future versions of Steam will require Windows features and security updates only present in Windows 10 and higher,” they explain.