Did versions before 2.8 not available to download and install?

[clever0dolt]

I have recently moved orgs. I'm now working with code base of play framework version of 2.8.7 and Java 8. I don't see any direct download/installation of play. So I tried with sbt. Even with sbt it's not able to install any play version<3.0.The 3.0 play doesn't support Java 8. What should I do?

Please reply if you have some information on this.

[ihostage]

You don't need to install Play by some special tools. Just use Sbt plugin for example.
All artifacts was published in Maven Central

< 3.0.0 in the group com.typesafe.play https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/com/typesafe/play/play_2.13/
>= 3.0.0 in the group org.playframework https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/playframework/play_2.13/

Also you can see an examples for Play 2.8.x in this repo https://github.com/playframework/play-samples/tree/2.8.x