I bought the game again to test this... and no go! HZD will not work without DX12 which means Windows 10 (some latest build)... or patch from devs because there is DX12 for Win7 but it's made for particular game not for entire OS (like DX9/DX11 under Win7). Cyberpunk 2077 was made this way so it is possible.

Thanks for your feedback. I am wondering if there is a way. Steam released their last proton version (a tool to run windows game on linux) and it seems the translation from dx12 to vulkan now works pretty well with some titles. There should be somehow a way to make it possible soon or later also on win 7, but it's still just a guess by now.

Well written. I totally agree.

If Microsoft does not change its policy regarding privacy and data retribution - what is highly unlikely - I am ready to being stuck with Windows 7 until my very demise.

But I would also argue that GOG indeed has a certain responsability making sure that the old games run on any (sufficiently reasonable) OS that the customer chooses.

Somewhat dissappointed that HZD does not support Win7. But, as a gamer senior I am able to happily limit myself to those good old games that run on my machine. In other words, I have no problems relinquishing Win10, Win10 games, or even GOG Galaxy (should it no longer be support Win7).

Maybe something that should be considered regarding GOG's business plan? Who is actually is or should be the target customer for (future) GOG?

GOG has never been in the business of making new games run on older OS's. They built their reputation on making old games run on NEW OS's.

I have no stake in the 7 vs 10 love fest, just stating facts. They stopped guaranteeing games would work with Windows 7 when it was no longer officially supported by MS. Before that, they'd stopped guaranteeing games would work with Vista within a couple years of existence, if memory serves.

I get what you're selling, but no. GOG has never been the type of business you're describing. It's a billion dollar idea if you're business savvy and have the investment capital, though.

Oh, yes! HZD joins the narrow club of games working only on win10. Thanks, devs!

Well, we have 2022 now. Windows 7 is no longer supported in mainstream since 2020, and to be honest I'm really grateful that they ported HZD to the PC at all. Now Horizon Forbidden West (HFW) has just been released for PS4/PS5, and we have to hope that they will port it to the PC as well. And if they only port it for Windows 11, so be it! I so much hope they will, and the sooner the better. HZD is such a well ported game and I do prefer keyboard+mouse over gamepad, so as soon as HFW is ported and available, I'll buy it!

I haven't used Windows 7 since ... well, Windows 8.
Die it have some advantages? Sure thing. Do I miss it? Not at all.
I am a Windows 11 user now and I can't complain (well, I can, the file explorer can be a bit of a pain and the dark mode is TOO dark).

Also our own software does not support it anymore. There is no reason to waste money trying to make a dead horse move. If devs want help from Microsoft for Windows 7, they need to pay. It really doesn't pay off anymore to support anything below Windows 10. If the software works on 8 or 7 ... joly good,yay! But doing extra work to make that happen? Nah