Valorant, the popular tactical shooter from Riot Games, will soon no longer run on some PCs. What this is about, you will find out on MeinMMO.
What is this update about? Riot Games announced on February 25 via Twitter that the tactical shooter Valorant will stop supporting Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 starting March 14, 2023. This means the game will no longer run on PCs that have an operating system older than Windows 10.
Why is there the change? According to the statement on Twitter, the purpose of the change is to shift support to Windows 10. This allows them to use “the latest security features and patches” to make it harder for cheaters.
As of March 14, VALORANT/ Vanguard will discontinue support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 for security reasons. By shifting support to the newer version of Windows, we can utilize the latest security features and patches, making it harder for cheaters.
Valorant via Twitter
Less than 2% of all Steam users use older systems
How many players are affected by this? Probably not very many. While we have no data on how many Valorant players are using operating systems older than Windows 10, user data from Steam could serve as a reference. This data is shared monthly by the gaming platform.
Although Valorant is not on Steam, the platform’s data is a good indicator of how frequently outdated Windows operating systems are still used by gamers – and that is not many.
- Windows 10 (64 bit): 63.46%
- Windows 11 (64 bit): 30.33%
- Windows 7 (64 bit): 1.60%
- Windows 8.1 (64 bit): 0.39%
- Windows 7 (64 bit): no data
In total, only 1.99% of all Steam users are using a Windows operating system that is older than Windows 10 (via Steam).
What do the players say? In the comments under the announcement, many players apparently have no problem with the update. Some talk about other issues they experienced in the game. Others jokingly ask if Windows XP works.
However, there are also some users in the comment section who are affected by the change and can no longer play Valorant as a result.
Among the affected players is Twitter user “desai_mn,” who writes: ‘My PC is very bad, but when I installed Valorant two years ago, I found hope that I could still play some first-person shooters at 80 to 90 FPS. But when new patches came, performance deteriorated. Now they have ended support. My last hope is gone (via Twitter).’
Do you have a teammate who uses an older operating system than Windows 10 and will no longer be able to play Valorant in the future, or are you still using an outdated system? Feel free to let us know in the comments!
Riot Games is working not only on anti-cheat measures for Valorant but also on a new shooter. This could possibly be in the Valorant universe and become a competitor to Destiny 2.
Riot is apparently working on an MMO shooter that sounds like competition for Destiny 2
