Tech

'World of Warcraft' company to finally cut off Windows XP, Vista support

Visitors try the massively multiplayer online role-playing game 'World Of Warcraft' at the Blizzard Entertainment stand at the 2014 Gamescom gaming trade fair on August 14, 2014 in Cologne, Germany.
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Blizzard, the maker of popular games like "World of Warcraft" and "Diablo," will no longer support older versions of Windows, the company said in a forum.

Once support for Windows XP and Vista sunsets later this year, the games will no longer run on those operating systems, though "the vast majority" of players are already on newer systems, Blizzard said.

Microsoft routinely stops releasing automatic updates to older platforms, encouraging users to upgrade to versions that are less susceptible to viruses. Support for Windows XP and Vista ended in 2009 and 2012, respectively.

The newest version of Windows, Windows 10, has had the fastest adoption ever.

Some of Blizzard's games, like "StarCraft," have gained international popularity and are played primarily on desktops, which are sometimes souped up to meet the demands of the competitions.