That glibc version might not be that old but they do this most likely because of security reasons. There will be a time when Valve will drop 32-bit support entirely as well. Also, you shouldn’t use old distros because of the same reason. Currently glibc v2.31 is on Debian Bullseye which is the old-stable version and Valve still supports it. Technically there is no problem with that announcement.
That glibc version might not be that old but they do this most likely because of security reasons. There will be a time when Valve will drop 32-bit support entirely as well. Also, you shouldn’t use old distros because of the same reason. Currently glibc v2.31 is on Debian Bullseye which is the old-stable version and Valve still supports it. Technically there is no problem with that announcement.