Valve officially stops supporting Steam on Windows 10 32-bit

Mainstream support for Windows 10 is ending in less than a month, but most software developers aren't ready to abandon the operating system just yet. With hundreds of millions of users and Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program providing three years of support (compared to one year for regular users), many apps will continue to work for a while longer. However, the situation is different for those still using the 32-bit version of Windows 10.

In fact, most applications and services have long since abandoned 32-bit to focus on 64-bit, which is stronger in terms of performance and security. For example, both AMD and Nvidia currently only release drivers for Windows 10/11 64-bit. And most recently, Valve also announced that it will officially stop supporting Steam on Windows 10 32-bit from January 1, 2026.

According to the new support document, Valve claims that it won't be cutting off 32-bit users outright. Steam will still be accessible, but it won't receive new features or security patches. More importantly, over the long term, as the platform updates to newer technologies that are no longer 32-bit compatible, existing installations will gradually stop working.

Valve explains:

'This change is necessary because many core Steam features rely on system drivers and other libraries that are no longer supported on 32-bit Windows. Future versions of Steam will only run on 64-bit Windows. We encourage users to upgrade sooner rather than later.'

According to the most recent Steam Hardware and Software Survey, only 0.01% of participants are still using 32-bit Windows 10. This means that the move won't have much of an impact, and Valve is still giving users time to upgrade to at least 64-bit Windows 10 – which is still supported for a long time.

Perhaps this is the 'final push' to officially retire 32-bit. From graphics card drivers to gaming platforms like Steam, the days of old PCs running 32-bit seem to be coming to an end.

Lesley Montoya

Update 23 September 2025