Steam just killed off its thirty two bit client on modern Windows. Valve dropped an update that officially ends support for the old version on Windows 10 and 11. The company said keeping the legacy version around made development and testing harder. From now on, they are only focusing on the sixty-four-bit app.
People still using a thirty-two-bit version of Windows will get updates for a little while longer, but that stops completely at the start of next year. After that date, no more official patches or fixes will come. Valve thinks almost nobody will be impacted, since most computers sold in the last ten years run sixty four bit operating systems. Anyone stuck on the old setup would need to upgrade their whole OS or their PC hardware to keep using Steam officially.
This move follows the industry trend, as nearly every other major app already ditched thirty two bit support. Some users might try unofficial community builds to keep the old client alive, but Valve warned that those come with security risks and potential breakdowns. The company had already stopped supporting other ancient Windows versions earlier, making this the final step in phasing out legacy systems.
People still using a thirty-two-bit version of Windows will get updates for a little while longer, but that stops completely at the start of next year. After that date, no more official patches or fixes will come. Valve thinks almost nobody will be impacted, since most computers sold in the last ten years run sixty four bit operating systems. Anyone stuck on the old setup would need to upgrade their whole OS or their PC hardware to keep using Steam officially.
This move follows the industry trend, as nearly every other major app already ditched thirty two bit support. Some users might try unofficial community builds to keep the old client alive, but Valve warned that those come with security risks and potential breakdowns. The company had already stopped supporting other ancient Windows versions earlier, making this the final step in phasing out legacy systems.
