Earlier this year, we reported on the news that revealed which operating systems the majority of Steam users were accessing the platform on. Naturally, Windows was the favourite, but the array of which version of Windows used was more varied. The one other thing that everyone agreed on was that the 64-bit edition of Windows was the right option, with 32-bit used by a very, very small portion of the user base.
Valve has now realised that continuing to support Windows 32-bit is a futile effort, and has decided to sunset Steam support for the OS. The reason being is simply that such a small user base still utilises the OS that it's not worth supporting any further.
"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 sunset will officially happen on January 1, 2026, and once it has been completed, we can still expect Windows 10 64-bit to be supported. Likewise, in the lead up to this change, the 32-bit edition will receive no further updates.
Valve concludes: "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."