Today, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 version 21H2 will reach its end-of-support date for Enterprise and Education editions on June 10, 2024. Following this date, organizations that are still running this version of Windows will no longer receive technical support, security patches, or bug fixes from the Redmond giant. If they seek help from Microsoft in troubleshooting their systems, users of Windows 10 21H2 will get advisory to upgrade to the next supported version, with Windows 11 being in the upgrade path pipeline. Alternatively, they can upgrade to the newer Windows 10 version 22H2, which will receive support until October 14, 2025. It's important to note that support for the Home and Pro editions of Windows 10 21H2 has already ended in June 2023.

The end of support applies to all variants of Windows 10 21H2, including Enterprise, Enterprise multi-session, Education, and IoT Enterprise. Businesses and schools still utilizing Windows 10 21H2 should plan their upgrades promptly. However, they may face challenges as Windows 11 has higher system requirements compared to Windows 10, such as requiring a UEFI BIOS, Secure Boot, DirectX 12 compatible graphics, and a TPM 2.0 security chip. While the Enterprise and Education editions have somewhat relaxed specifications, meeting all these criteria may necessitate hardware upgrades for some organizations, in addition to the operating system migration. If not possible, some organizations may go the Linux-based route of installing lightweight operating systems to keep their PC's lifecycle running.

Last year, we posted an article on decommissioning online services for some older games. Today we have an update for you, as some additional online services will be decommissioned across several platforms on January 25, 2024. Decommissioning such services for older games is not something we take lightly, but is a necessity as the technology that drove those services has grown obsolete.

Below, you can find a list of the games and platforms affected. For a detailed breakdown of the effects of this decommissioning, please refer to our updated self-help article. Rest assured that the decommissioning of online services will only affect certain online functionalities; if you purchased these games, you will still be able to play them.

Nintendo of Japan has announced that its extended warranty service for the popular Switch console will be ending effective August 31, and customers will not be able to amend their ¥200 (~$1.40) monthly / ¥2000 (~$14) annual subscriptions beyond July 14. The "Wide Care" initiative was launched last July, as a collaboration with Aeon Japan—granting owners of Switch consoles, outside legal warranty, an allowance of six repairs (maximum) and two full unit replacements. No official reason for the termination was provided, which is surprising given that the Switch has sold 29 million units in the region. Naturally not all of the customer base is signed up with Wide Care, but the timing could suggest that Nintendo is adjusting its priorities and making way for the next generation model.

A Wide Care-style service was not made available to customers outside of Nintendo's native base of operation, but the Switch's Joy-Con controllers have gained a lot of attention over the console's lifespan due to analog stick drifting issues. The fragile nature of these modular attachments has resulted in plenty of negative feedback from the userbase, and Nintendo has been pressured by watchdogs and petitions to provide comprehensive and out-of-warranty repair services in certain regions, with their new-ish scheme slowly expanding across Europe.

Microsoft is determined to get the entirety of its Windows 10 userbase onto the final version - 22H2 - by early summer. Older iterations including 21H2 (issued in November of 2021), will not receive official support beyond the date: June 13 2023. The announcement crept out quietly last week, via the company's Learn Documentation center: "Home, Pro, Pro Education, and Pro for Workstations editions of Windows 10, version 21H2 will reach end of servicing. The upcoming June 2023 security update, to be released on June 13, 2023, will be the last update available for these versions. After this date, devices running these version will no longer receive monthly security and preview updates containing protections from the latest security threats."

The reminder does not give specific details about rollout timings, but news outlets reckon that OS-focused enforcements will begin in early June: "To help keep you protected and productive, Windows Update will automatically initiate a feature update for Windows 10 consumer devices and non-managed business devices that are at, or within several months of, reaching end of servicing. This keeps your device supported and receiving monthly updates that are critical to security and ecosystem health. For these devices, you will be able to choose a convenient time for your device to restart and complete the update." Microsoft provides further advice and recommends that users update (manually) to version 2H22 at the earliest opportunity, or take the larger step of transferring to Windows 11. Last month TPU reported on a similar official advisory blog entry, where the author/product manager (in effect) proposed "that current Windows 10 users move to 11 as soon as possible, in order to enjoy a continued stream of feature updates."

Microsoft has confirmed that the current version of Windows 10 - 22H2 - will be the final one. A company product manager revealed this information yesterday in a Windows IT Pro Blog entry posted alongside a mass of articles on Microsoft's Tech Community site. As covered on TPU almost two years ago, Microsoft had given advance notice that it was terminating support for Windows 10 on October 14th 2025 - for both Home and Pro versions of the operating system. Windows 11 was released later on in 2021, and thus became the priority OS product for the North American tech firm.

Yesterday's blog reiterates key information from the past, and details an interim update cycle (albeit small): "Windows 10 will reach end of support on October 14, 2025. The current version, 22H2, will be the final version of Windows 10, and all editions will remain in support with monthly security update releases through that date. Existing (enterprise) releases will continue to receive updates beyond that date based on their specific lifecycles." Microsoft has proceeded to update the lifecycle page entry for Windows 10 Home and Pro in line with the latest announcement. The product manager (in his blog) recommends that current Windows 10 users move to 11 as soon as possible, in order to enjoy a continued stream of feature updates.

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.

It was widely reported yesterday that Phil Harrison has left Google, where he served a stint as Vice President and General Manager of the now shuttered Stadia cloud-based game streaming service. An official statement has not been released by Google or Harrison regarding a change in leadership - according to an article published by Business Insider, the latter's LinkedIn profile indicates an end date in April 2023. Harrison's departure from Google coincides roughly with the final shutdown of Stadia services back in January of this year.

Phil Harrison was announced as a new vice president and general manager at Google in early 2018, but the company had not revealed any plans to enter into the games console market at that point in time. The hiring of Harrison was viewed as an early preview of things to come, given his past experience of leadership roles at both Sony and Microsoft video games division. He spent 16 years of his career at Sony Corporation, ultimately becoming president of the company's Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS) until departing in 2008. He joined Microsoft in 2012, following short spells at Infogrames, Atari and Gaikai. At Xbox he was the executive leader of the European Interactive Entertainment team until 2015. Google debuted its Stadia gaming platform in 2019, and to no surprise, Harrison was announced as the product manager for this new endeavor.

As we close in on 15 years since the release of Battlefield 1943, and Bad Company 1 & 2, we are announcing that their journey is coming to an end. Starting April 28 2023, Battlefield 1943, and Battlefield: Bad Company 1 & 2 will be removed from digital storefronts and you will no longer be able to purchase them.

This is in preparation for the retirement of the online services for these titles which will happen on December 8 2023. For Bad Company 1 and 2, you can still continue playing them and use their respective offline features, such as the single player campaign. You can also read our FAQ and Service Updates for further information on the retirement of online services.

Update 14:17 UTC: EA updated their press release this morning, to clarify that the inclusion of Mirror's Edge was an error. They stated via Twitter: "We currently have no plans to remove Mirror's Edge from digital storefronts."