Fortnite drops Windows 7 and 8 support
Back in December 2022, Fortnite became a "graphical powerhouse overnight(opens in new tab)" with a move to Unreal Engine 5.1. Epic described the shift as «a generational leap in visual fidelity,» which of course required a bit of an adjustment to the game's hardware requirements. Epic also warned that, with the release of Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2, Windows 10 would become a requirement.
It wasn't kidding: Chapter 4 Season 2 went live today, and Windows 7 and 8 are now officially out.
«As previously announced, starting with Battle Royale Chapter 4 Season 2, players will be required to use Windows 10 or higher in order to continue playing Fortnite natively on PC in an officially supported manner,» Epic said in its latest What's New(opens in new tab) update. «Windows 7 and 8 are now officially unsupported in Fortnite.»
The reasoning behind the move was explained in more detail when it was first announced last year. «As Fortnite continues to evolve, we are required to make support changes in order to grow our technology and expand the game to fulfill our vision of Fortnite's future,» Epic said at the time(opens in new tab). «In older operating systems, the growing risk of security threats as well as the lack of modern features we rely on causes us to spend an increasing amount of development time on workarounds, instead of investing that time into the game itself.»
I dislike change as much as anyone (and I maintain a genuine affection for Windows 7) but even so, I have to admit that it's a reasonable position for Epic to take. Windows 7 is now 13 years old, which is getting a little long in the tooth as these things go, and Microsoft officially ended support(opens in new tab) for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 in January of this
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