As of today, Rockstar Games has officially ended support for Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems. This means that the Rockstar Games Launcher and games like GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 will only support Windows 10 or later and complications may arise on older operating systems from future updates.
This change was announced on Rockstar’s official support channels back in October of last year. The support post reads as follows:
Question: What does the end of Microsoft’s support for Windows 7 and 8 mean for my Rockstar Games titles on PC?
Answer: In light of Microsoft’s end of support for Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems, Rockstar Games will no longer officially support these operating systems beginning January 30, 2024. To prevent any future interruptions of service and ensure continued access to the latest platform features, we recommend Windows 7 and 8 users upgrade to a supported operating system as soon as possible.
As the post says, this choice was motivated by Microsoft’s own discontinuation of support for older operating systems. This is fairly common after an extensive length of time. Windows 7 originally launched in 2009, so fifteen years certainly seems like plenty of time to upgrade to a newer OS. Still, it’s unfortunate for those who are partial to the older look and feel.
If you’re still on Windows 7 or 8 and you’re regularly playing games, now might be the time to upgrade.
Source: Rockstar Support
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