Valve Announces Steam Support Ending for MacOS 10.11 and 10.12 in Early September 2023

[T0@st]

Valve has posted advance notice that Steam will not officially support macOS versions 10.11 ("El Capitan") and 10.12 ("Sierra") from September 1 2023. After this date "the Steam Client will no longer run on those versions of macOS." Valve recommends that users should upgrade to a newer version of macOS, if they intend to continue running Steam and related games and products. The cited reason for ending support is: "core features in Steam rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome, which no longer functions on older versions of macOS. In addition, future versions of Steam will require macOS feature and security updates only present in macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) and above."

Last week, Valve announced that support for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 operating systems would cease at the very beginning of 2024. It has been a while since older versions of macOS have been declared as unsupported by the Steam Client - Valve announced, way back in late 2018, that it would stop supporting macOS versions 10.7 ("Lion"), 10.8 ("Mountain Lion"), 10.9 ("Mavericks") and 10.10 ("Yosemite") by January 1 2019. Again, an embedding of an iteration of Google Chrome was given as the main reason behind this discontinuation.



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[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Steam tell me again the benefits of the engine over epic because I can't think of any good reason to care what steam does anymore compared to epic free offerings.
And no I'm not referring to fortnite

 

[cvaldes]

First of all, the Epic Game Launcher has been pulled from macOS so we'll have to continue this comparison between Windows clients.

Steam allows the user to back up games something that cannot be done with the Epic Games Launcher. Want to move your Fortnite installation from one computer to another? Start downloading because Epic does not provide a method to backup/restore game titles.

With Steam, you also have the additional option of moving games by copying the game directory and its corresponding appmanifest_NNN.acf file. And if you change the permissions of the acf file to read-only, you can prevent Steam from updating the game files (useful if you have a carefully assembled collection of mods).

Steam also has the Steam Input API which allows for better gamepad support. Most notably the PlayStation DualSense gamepad works with more titles via Steam. In fact, one workaround for Epic games that aren't working properly with a gamepad is to fire up the Epic Game Launcher via Steam (just add the Epic app as a non-Steam "game") to add Steam Input API support.

Steam also has a much more robust development environment and community than Epic.

Furthermore Steam has much more VR support than Epic. That's not surprising since Valve markets their own VR hardware.

Steam also provides better support for non traditional devices, specifically PCs running Linux and Steam Deck.

There are additional advantages that Steam has over Epic. The Epic Game Launcher is really just a store/launcher, not much more.

As far as I can tell, Steam sits head and shoulders above all other game launchers (EGS, Ubisoft Connect, EA/Origin, etc.). Even less useful are launchers like 2K and Rockstar. I see little benefit to those since it doesn't appear you can purchase anything. They're probably really just data mining skankware.

Even as a game downloading app, Steam is far superior to Epic since you can change the order of the downloads. With the Epic Game Launcher, you are stuck with whatever queue the app choose, you can't pause one download and move to a different download. Totally retarded.

If that's not enough for you, hopefully other forum members will highlight the Steam desktop client's features. Despite what you think, it's more than a storefront and downloader.

 

[Lew Zealand]

First of all, the Epic Game Launcher has been pulled from macOS so we'll have to continue this comparison between Windows clients.

<snip the rest>

What are you talking about? I just downloaded and installed the Epic Games Launcher on my Mac.

More relevant to the discussion, this means that Steam games will no longer be available for 2008-10 (Core 2 Duo and 1st Gen Core i) Macs. Seems reasonable as most can't play anything even vaguely recent as so many just shipped with GeForce 9400m Gfx or 9600m if you're lucky.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

First of all, the Epic Game Launcher has been pulled from macOS so we'll have to continue this comparison between Windows clients.

Steam allows the user to back up games something that cannot be done with the Epic Games Launcher. Want to move your Fortnite installation from one computer to another? Start downloading because Epic does not provide a method to backup/restore game titles.

With Steam, you also have the additional option of moving games by copying the game directory and its corresponding appmanifest_NNN.acf file. And if you change the permissions of the acf file to read-only, you can prevent Steam from updating the game files (useful if you have a carefully assembled collection of mods).

Steam also has the Steam Input API which allows for better gamepad support. Most notably the PlayStation DualSense gamepad works with more titles via Steam. In fact, one workaround for Epic games that aren't working properly with a gamepad is to fire up the Epic Game Launcher via Steam (just add the Epic app as a non-Steam "game") to add Steam Input API support.

Steam also has a much more robust development environment and community than Epic.

Furthermore Steam has much more VR support than Epic. That's not surprising since Valve markets their own VR hardware.

Steam also provides better support for non traditional devices, specifically PCs running Linux and Steam Deck.

There are additional advantages that Steam has over Epic. The Epic Game Launcher is really just a store/launcher, not much more.

As far as I can tell, Steam sits head and shoulders above all other game launchers (EGS, Ubisoft Connect, EA/Origin, etc.). Even less useful are launchers like 2K and Rockstar. I see little benefit to those since it doesn't appear you can purchase anything. They're probably really just data mining skankware.

Even as a game downloading app, Steam is far superior to Epic since you can change the order of the downloads. With the Epic Game Launcher, you are stuck with whatever queue the app choose, you can't pause one download and move to a different download. Totally retarded.

If that's not enough for you, hopefully other forum members will highlight the Steam desktop client's features. Despite what you think, it's more than a storefront and downloader.

Dont forget things like user reviews and refunds. Epic is in such a terrible state, even today, that the original steam DRM from nearly 20 years ago was more impressive. Epic is clearly trying to take the rich boy method of buying everythign they can and giving stuff away to make friends, but that doesnt build a community. That just builds a fanbase that expects free stuff and never will engage with your service.

See also: the abysmal uptake numbers for el Salvador's bitcoin wallets, despite the huge % of citizens that tried it.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Man, once they get past Mojave (10.14), Steam will lose quite a bit of game support since MacOS is 64bit only after that. All the classic 32bit games won’t run. I suppose in those situations, you’re going to be running an older Intel Mac and would just need to dual boot. My gaming PC is a 2010 Mac Pro, but I boot it to Windows 11, where the largest Steam library is available.

 

[Imouto]

*snip*

- Don't forget about the universal controller support. Steam Input is simply awesome.
- Stuff like the Steam Link is also worth mentioning because you can put it in a RPi3+ and cast to your TV.
- Also the Remote Play Together feature which is a great way to play with your bro 200km away.
- Family sharing is also cool so you can let someone borrow your library.
- If you want to play on your TV the Deck's updated Big Picture is also great to navigate your library and play.

 

[SomeOne99h]

Man, once they get past Mojave (10.14), Steam will lose quite a bit of game support since MacOS is 64bit only after that. All the classic 32bit games won’t run. I suppose in those situations, you’re going to be running an older Intel Mac and would just need to dual boot. My gaming PC is a 2010 Mac Pro, but I boot it to Windows 11, where the largest Steam library is available.

There is WinBottler for that.

WineBottler | Run Windows-based Programs on a Mac

WineBottler packages Windows-based programs snugly into OS X app-bundles. No need to install emulators or operating systems - WineBottler uses the great open-source tool Wine to run the binaries on your Mac.

winebottler.kronenberg.org

WineBottler Archives - MikesMassiveMess

Index of /combo/builds

Github link with latest source:

GitHub - cbsghost/WineBottler

Contribute to cbsghost/WineBottler development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

 

[big_glasses]

Epic has the same deal. Which shouldn't be a shocker (I believe they also use Chromium)

https://www.epicgames.com/help/en-US/epic-games-store-c5719341124379/launcher-support-c5719357217435/epic-games-launcher-no-longer-supports-macos-10-9-10-12-a7535371800475

 

[Ahhzz]

This is NOT a Steam vs Epic thread. Take it outside. Of the Forums.