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i feel like this is a far bigger issue than them previously dropping support for XP, particularly for people interested in retro computing.As of January 1 2024, Steam will officially stop supporting the Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 operating systems. After that date, the Steam Client will no longer run on those versions of Windows. In order to continue running Steam and any games or other products purchased through Steam, users will need to update to a more recent version of Windows.
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.
as the Windows 7 era was when devs began relying on Steam more and more to the point that the vast majority of PC games were locked to it. which has plenty of advantages on it's own, but leads to problems once support is dropped.
people have attempted to work around the XP shutdown, which was effective for a bit. but it eventually got to the point where it's now genuinely impossible to download games on it.
the fact it's related to Google Chrome makes it particularly worse, as Valve has been moving several important elements of the client to becoming browser-based. including the login screen.
the wording of "no longer running" could flat out mean it's impossible to login once the date rolls by, making the service (and any games that don't happen to be DRM-free when downloaded, which is naturally the vast majority of the library.) unusable on vintage computers without resorting to piracy.
Valve (or their support team, at least) has consistently brought up having the idea of creating an offline contigency mode of sorts if Steam ever needed to fully shut down.
but it seems very unlikely they'll pull it out for this.In the unlikely event of the discontinuation of the Steam network, measures are in place to ensure that all users will continue to have access to their Steam games.
also, to get the obvious question of "why not just get your collection on GOG? since they provide downloadable DRM-free executables" out of the way....
- GOG, while having some improvements in getting more Windows 7-era games acquirable through their site. is still missing a large chunk of them. not to mention situations where the developer and/or publisher of the game no longer exists, making it unlikely said game will get released outside Steam (assuming it wasn't already delisted)
- GOG is also directly entering the business of selling games that aren't DRM-free, which means the exact same situation will happen again once Windows 7 support is eventually dropped on the Galaxy client. just to a lesser extent.