Do you ever wish you could go back to an older version of a Steam game?
Can I Downgrade Any Game on Steam?
Every game on Steam keeps a full history of different update versions.
Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as choosing a game version from a drop-down menu.
All the older game versions are stored on Steam and accessible through the Steam Console.
Different game versions are stored as Manifests, which you might find within a Depot.
Enable Steam Console
The first thing we’ll do is switch on the Steam Console.
You’ll want to have Steam running before proceeding.
for switch on the Steam Console, run with this.
First, hit theWin + Rbuttons to bring up theRunprogram.
Head over to themain page of SteamDBand search for the game you’re looking to downgrade.
We’ll use Half-Life 2 as an example.
The first bit of information you’ll want to grab is theApp ID.
Note this down somewhere, then tap on theDepotslink, found on the side of the page.
This page will look a little different for different games, but it should be fairly self-explanatory either way.
We want to note down theID Numberlisted against the depot we’re after.
Which depot are we after?
The one for the base game.
Firstly, the size.
The base game depot is usually the largest size available.
Secondly, the name.
In our case, that would beHalf-Life 2 Base.
We should now have anApp IDand aDepot ID.
For Half-Life 2, we have 220 and 221 so far.
Now, click theDepot IDitself.
It will take you to yet another page.
This page is showing all the different updates, as well as how long ago those updates were released.
You may need to sign in to SteamDB to see updates older than a year.
This page has the last piece of information we’re after.
Find the update you’re after and note down theManifest ID.
Now we have everything we need.
In our case, that is theApp ID220, theDepot ID221, and theManifest IDwe’ll use is 2285219600326880043.
Download Manifest Using Steam Console
Head back into Steam.
The next part is easy.
This is where we actually download the older version.
With the Steam Console open, input the following command.
Again, our example would look something like this.
After you hit enter, it may seem like nothing is happening.
Steam won’t always notify you of the download.
Don’t worry, if you’ve entered the command correctly, Steam will be downloading it silently.
you’re able to confirm by checking any web connection usage.
Eventually, the Steam Console will display a message indicating that the download is done.
Take note of where the download has been placed.
There’s another step or two involved to get your downgraded game running on Steam.
Replace Game Files With Downgraded Files
Navigate to where Steam has downloaded your files.
Keep this window open.
Next, open up the installation directory for your game.
This can be done easily by following these steps:
The two directories should look very similar.
From here, it’s a matter of replacing the original game files with your newly downloaded version.
Either move your original game files to another location for a backup, or outright delete the original files.
Anything you delete can be downloaded again later.
Next, paste the files you downloaded from the Steam Console into the installation directory.
You’ve now downgraded the game files.
Next time you launch the game through Steam, it will launch this original version.
An alternative solution is to launch Steam in Offline Mode or play without an internet connection.
Can You Downgrade Steam Games on the Steam Deck?
Downgrading games on the Steam Deck is more or less the same as on a regular PC gear.
One other difference to keep in mind is the generally smaller drive space available.
This method even works for games that have been removed from Steam!
