p>Update September 28, 2021: Valve has responded to reports that Steam could remove the option to download older game versions.
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p>September 28 - Valve has shared a statement with PCGamer that clarifies that the studio has no plans to end the option to download older game builds. "We don't actually have plans to block downloading older builds," a spokesperson tells the site. "What we are currently developing is an approach to handling edge cases involving materials that are not owned by us and helping partners remove builds that need to go. When it's ready to ship we'll let you know more details about the work." Original story follows. https://mcnames.org/ </p>
p>The latest Steam beta has added an update that seems to eliminate the option for gamers to roll back game updates or play older versions of games on Steam. In the new version users are no longer able to download depots for Steam games to play older versions of games they own and many are dissatisfied with this change.
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p>There are many games that undergo radical changes between updates - there's an entire fan community dedicated to finding and archiving the various versions of Minecraft over time, for example and games like Counter-Strike update frequently with major changes.
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p>It is possible to download older versions of Steam games with SteamDB. All you need to do is locate the version you wish to play. The September 23 beta update to Steam seems to have stopped this practice. The update will be live in Steam's client and no one will be allowed to play the older versions.
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p>Pavel Djundik, creator of SteamDB said it is impossible to download older Steam game depots and then play them with the latest code in place. This is, at the very least, in the event that Steam enforces it across all games. Pavel also says that this means SteamDB will now have to "go back to the past when it could only track files for what it owns" if it goes ahead. SteamDB has Pavel's complete, in-depth explanation.
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p>Last Steam beta introduced an important change to game downloads.
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p>With this change, it is no longer possible to download older game versions, because client asks for a code (GetManifestRequestCode?) that rotates every five minutes.
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p>Pavel Djundik (@thexpaw September 23 2021
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p>Many Steam tinkerers are unhappy with this change and asking for it to be reversed. The time frame for the launch date is up to Valve, of course.
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