How do recent Broadcom changes affect manual and auto-patching support for VMware products?

Summary

Broadcom has implemented significant changes to the download and installation flow for VMware Workstation products. These updates impact both VMware Workstation Player and Workstation Pro.

• Workstation Player 16 is no longer maintained, and its download link has been removed. SDK can no longer support manual or auto-patching for this version.
• Workstation Player 17+ is bundled with Workstation Pro and is no longer available as a standalone product. Only detection and vulnerability assessment (VA) are supported.
• Workstation Pro (all versions) continues to be fully supported.

Support matrix

Recommendation

• Customers using VMware Workstation Player 16 should manually migrate to VMware Workstation Pro 17+ or use the SDK to patch the current VMware Workstation Pro to version 17+.

Key Changes from Broadcom

1. New Download Flow

Broadcom no longer supports the traditional binary download method. Instead, a new centralized download site with a verification layer has been introduced.

Reference: Broadcom Announcement: Changes to How You Download VMware Software Binaries

2. Product Consolidation and Licensing

• Currently, VMWare Workstation Pro is free for personal use, which leads to the discontinuation of their lesser counterparts VMware Workstation Player and VMware Fusion Player.
• The Workstation Player is now bundled with Workstation Pro. When users install or update Workstation Pro, the Player version is automatically included and updated.

Related Articles:

Open a Virtual Machine in VMware Workstation Player

VMware Workstation Pro: Now Free for Personal Use

3. Broadcom's Update on Workstation Player Support (Updated in Nov 2025)

• Broadcom no longer maintains or distributes VMware Workstation Player as a standalone product for version 16 and above.
• The download link for Workstation Player version 16 has been removed, and version 17+ is only available as part of Workstation Pro.
• As a result, SDK patching support for Workstation Player version 16 has been discontinued.

Impact on Product Support (Updated in Nov 2025)

• VMware Workstation Player <=15: Fully supported for Detection, VA, manual patching, and auto-patching.
• VMware Workstation Player 16: Detection and VA supported. Manual and auto-patching no longer supported due to the removal of the download link.
• VMware Workstation Player >=17: Detection and VA supported. Manual and auto-patching not supported.
• VMware Workstation Pro (all versions): Fully supported for Detection, VA, manual patching, and auto-patching.
• Note: The VMWare Workstation Player >=17 will be updated along with VMWare Workstation Pro, when users install/patch VMWare Workstation Pro on their endpoints.

Revised recommendation:

• Customers using VMware Workstation Player <=15 may continue with full support, but should plan for future migration.
• Customers using VMware Workstation Player 16 should manually migrate to VMware Workstation Pro 17+ or use the SDK to patch the current VMware Workstation Pro to version 17+.
• VMware Workstation Pro remains the recommended path forward for continued patching and support.