Valve has confirmed Steam will be dropping support for 32-bit versions of the Windows 10 operating system.
The company said Windows 10 32-bit is used by just 0.01% of users, sparking the change. Windows 10 64-bit will still be supported and 32-bit games will still run.
“As of January 1 2026, Steam will stop supporting systems running 32-bit versions of Windows,” Valve explained in an update posted to its blog.
“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. Windows 10 64-bit will still be supported and 32-bit games will still run.”
This means that while existing Steam Client installations should “continue to function for the near term on Windows 10 32-bit,” they will no longer receive updates “of any kind.” Most crucially, this includes security updates.
“Steam Support will be unable to offer users technical support for issues related to the old operating systems, and Steam will be unable to guarantee continued functionality of Steam on the unsupported operating system versions,” Valve added. “To ensure continued updates and compatibility, users should update to a 64-bit version of Windows.
“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.”
Valve has been in the news lately for other reasons, too, tightening its guidelines around ‘adult only’ content to satisfy rules set by Steam’s payment processing partners, with dozens of sexually explicit games removed from the platform.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
