Valve announced that its Steam digital distribution service will drop support for 32-bit versions of Windows starting in January 2026.
Two years earlier, in January 2024, Steam dropped support for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1, urging users to upgrade to a newer operating system.
Now, although Steam will soon stop running on Windows 10 32-bit—the only 32-bit Windows version still supported—it will continue running on Windows 10 64-bit. In addition, 32-bit games will remain playable.
The number of affected users remains minimal since the latest Steam hardware survey shows that only 0.01% of gamers use a 32-bit operating system. Nevertheless, Valve urged gamers to update to a 64-bit version of Windows as soon as possible to maintain compatibility and continue receiving updates.
“As of January 1, 2026, Steam will stop supporting systems running 32-bit versions of Windows. Windows 10 32-bit is the only 32-bit version that is currently supported by Steam and is only in use on 0.01% of systems reported through the Steam Hardware Survey,” the company said this week. “Existing Steam Client installations will continue to function for the near term on Windows 10 32-bit but will no longer receive updates of any kind including security updates.”
“This change is required as core features in Steam rely on system drivers and other libraries that are not supported on 32-bit versions of Windows. Future versions of Steam will run on 64-bit versions of Windows only. We strongly encourage all 32-bit Windows users to update sooner rather than later,” it added.
Meanwhile, Microsoft reminded customers earlier this month that all versions of Windows 10 will reach their end of support in just 30 days, on October 14, and advised them to upgrade eligible systems to Windows 11 or migrate to the cloud with Windows 365.
For those who cannot upgrade due to incompatible hardware, Microsoft offers the option to delay switching to Windows 11 by enrolling in the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program. This program costs $30 for home users and $61 per device per year for enterprise customers. Moreover, home users can enroll in the ESU program for free if they enable Windows Backup to sync their data to the cloud or if they use Microsoft Rewards points.
According to Steam‘s August 2025 hardware and software survey, 60.39% of gamers use Windows 11, while 35.08% continue to use Windows 10.
Source: BleepingComputer, Sergiu Gatlan
Read more at Impreza News
