In brief: Nvidia has confirmed that it will continue delivering Game Ready drivers for one year after Windows 10 reaches its end-of-life date this October, giving users more time to upgrade. Additionally, gamers who still use Maxwell, Volta, and Pascal graphics cards will receive security updates for another three years.
The company explained its plans regarding Windows 10 and older GPUs in the patch notes for the 580.88 graphics driver, released July 31. Those with RTX cards can expect to receive day-one optimizations for games released in 2026, even if they still use Windows 10 after Microsoft ends official support on October 14, 2025.
Microsoft's decision is controversial because, despite Windows 10 recently celebrating its 10-year anniversary, Windows 11 only recently overtook it in user adoption. Furthermore, millions of functioning devices do not meet the new OS' system requirements.
Most systems and programs will likely still work for a while after the deadline, but they could become less secure and miss out on new features over time. For example, Square Enix recently confirmed that popular MMO Final Fantasy XIV will no longer officially support Windows 10 after this October. The game will likely remain playable on the older OS, but the company simply will not provide support for issues related to Windows 10.
Interestingly, Nvidia's one-year reprieve coincides with Microsoft's promise to extend Windows 10 support for one year to users who enroll in Windows Backup, which automatically uploads personal files to OneDrive. Users can extend support through October 2026 by purchasing Extended Security Updates for $30 or 1,000 rewards points.
Meanwhile, Nvidia also confirmed that it will release its final Maxwell, Volta, and Pascal GPU drivers in October 2025. Cards from those generations, such as the GTX 1060, remain popular, and the 1080 Ti can run most games released in 2025 in 1080p.
While these GPUs will no longer receive Game Ready drivers after next year, they will support quarterly security updates through October 2028. Older games will continue running as smoothly as ever, but performance on pre-RTX graphics cards will fall progressively further behind newer GPUs in future releases.
Nvidia's 580.88 driver includes Game Ready optimizations for Mafia: The Old Country, which launches on August 7, and introduces DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Nvidia extends Game Ready driver support for Windows 10 users through 2026
