Update September 28, 2021: Valve has responded to reports that Steam could be removing the option to download older versions of games.
September 28 - Valve has released a statement with PCGamer that explains the studio doesn't have plans to remove the option to download older game builds. A spokesperson from Valve told PCGamer that they're not planning to prevent users from downloading older versions. "What we're working on is an approach on handling edge cases involving unowned content, and helping partners more easily take down builds that need to be removed due to copyright issues. We'll be sharing more about this project when it's ready for shipping." Original story is available.
Minecraft servers
Steam beta 2 has a new feature that appears to remove the ability to rollback game updates or play older versions on Steam. With the new version, players are unable to download depots of Steam games to play older versions of games they own - and many are unhappy about this change.
There are a variety of games that are drastically changed between updates. There's even a fan group dedicated to locating and archiving all the different versions of Minecraft over the years such as, for instance and other games like Counter-Strike update regularly , with significant changes.
As of right now it is possible to download and play older versions of games owned on Steam with the help of an organization similar to SteamDB All you have to do is locate the depot of the version you want to play. The September 23 beta update to Steam appears to have stopped this practice. This update will be available in Steam's client and nobody will be able to play previous versions.
Pavel Djundik, creator of SteamDB confirmed that it would be impossible to download older Steam game depots, and then play them with the new code. This is at a minimum the case if Steam makes it mandatory across all games. Pavel states that SteamDB will have to "go back to the past to only track files it owns" If this happens. You can read the full extensive explanation over on SteamDB.
Minecraft servers
The last Steam beta brought a significant change to game downloads.
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.
Pavel Djundik (@thexpaw September 23, 2021
A lot of Steam tinkerers are upset with this change and asking for it to be reversed. If it happens before going live is entirely up to Valve Of course.
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