Valve has announced that it will discontinue support for 32-bit versions of Windows for its Steam application starting January 1, 2026. Future iterations of Steam will operate exclusively on 64-bit versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11, reports 24brussels.
Currently, Windows 10 remains the sole supported 32-bit version, but Microsoft is set to terminate its support next month. While Valve will still support 64-bit versions of Windows 10, users will be able to access 32-bit games through Steam, although installation of the Steam app on a 32-bit operating system will no longer be permitted.
Notably, the existing version of Steam operates as a 32-bit application across all Windows versions. However, Valve cautions that this will change soon. “Future versions of Steam will run on 64-bit versions of Windows only,” the company stated in a support notice, adding that the modification is necessary as essential features in Steam depend on system drivers and libraries incompatible with 32-bit Windows versions.
Despite this significant shift, the impact on Steam users appears minimal. Valve indicates that 32-bit Windows 10 accounts for only 0.01 percent of all systems reported in its Steam Hardware Survey, suggesting that the majority of users will remain unaffected by this transition.
