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Steam Will Not Work on macOS Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and Yosemite From January 1: Valve

Steam Will Not Work on macOS Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and Yosemite From January 1: Valve

By Rishi Alwani | Updated: 18 December 2018 00:59 IST

Highlights

This is due to Steam's dependence on an embedded version of Google Chrome
This version of Chrome is needed for Steam's newer features
On the Windows side of things Windows XP and Vista support will end too

The world's largest digital PC game store Steam will stop working with specific versions of macOS from January 1, 2019. Valve announced that it will stop supporting macOS Lion (10.7), Mountain Lion (10.8), Mavericks (10.9), and Yosemite (10.10) from January 1. The reason for this is due to Steam's dependence on an embedded version of Google Chrome that no longer works with older versions of macOS. What's more is, future versions of Steam require macOS feature and security updates only found in macOS El Capitan (10.11) and beyond.

"For the remainder of 2018 Steam will continue to run and to launch games on these versions, but other functionality in Steam will be somewhat limited," a post from Valve reads. "For example, new features such as the new Steam Chat will not be available. We encourage all users on these operating systems to upgrade to newer versions of macOS in order to have ongoing access to the latest features of Steam, and to ensure future access to all games and other Steam content."

It isn't just older versions of macOS that are end of life for Steam. Earlier in the year Valve announced that Windows XP and Vista won't work with Steam from January 1, 2019. What this means is, if you're still on either OS, your Steam games will not be playable until you upgrade to a more recent version of Microsoft's operating system. The reason for this is the same as to why Steam won't work on older versions of macOS, Steam works on an embedded version of Google Chrome that doesn't work on older versions of Windows either. With upcoming versions of Steam dependent on Windows features and security updates that don't support Windows OSes that predate Windows 7, it means upgrading is mandatory.

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"Starting on January 1 2019, Steam will officially stop supporting the Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems. This means that 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," a post from Valve reads.

"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 7 and above."

For the rest of 2018 Steam games will work on Windows XP and Vista though other features like the new Steam Chat won't work.

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