All Discussions > Steam Forums > Suggestions / Ideas > Topic Details
PassHunter 23 Jul @ 12:00am
Ability to Run Multiple Game Versions Simultaneously
Hello Steam team!

I’d like to suggest an improvement that I think many users would find very useful.

Currently, to run an older version of a game or a beta version, you have to switch the installed version in Steam, which causes the game to re-download. This often resets settings, breaks mods, and generally causes inconvenience.

For example, I have Project Zomboid with mods that work perfectly on the stable old version. But Steam forces me to update the game, and to try the beta version I have to switch again, which leads to re-downloading and losing my comfortable configuration.

It would be great if Steam allowed installing and running multiple versions of the same game side-by-side (e.g., stable, beta, and other versions), so users could quickly switch between them without re-downloading or risking loss of settings or mod breakage.

Such functionality would increase convenience and flexibility for players and modders, especially those who actively use different game versions.

Thanks for your attention and your great work!
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Showing 1-4 of 4 comments
pckirk 23 Jul @ 6:54am 
not possible due to save locations, folders in use, and reg entries.
#1
Ben Lubar 23 Jul @ 7:34am 
Valve supports this from the developer end via Playtest apps.

But for branches, they're not designed for multiple to be installed at once.

It'd be nice if the downloaded data could be cached for faster branch switching, but I don't think it's likely that you'll be installing and running multiple branches at the same time.

If the game supports being run from outside of Steam, you could manually make a copy of the version that's less likely to receive updates.
#2
Mad Scientist 23 Jul @ 7:39am 
Some Devs make their own launcher where you can do exactly this, but they're fairly rare. More of a Dev option really since Steam is made to keep things updated with branches only being to have one version installed. Could ask the Devs for consideration as well.
#3
Pepe 23 Jul @ 12:04pm 
I hear what you're saying, but I don't think it will happen any time soon.

Losing your comfortable configuration has less to do with Steam, and more to do with the game devs. They should decouple modding and flexible configuration from the base install dir.

A workaround you can pursue to avoid your issues is the use of symlinks. Symlinks are an integral part of modern file systems. You should be able to create symlinks in Windows, macOS and GNU/Linux. With a little bit of scripting you can recreate the symlinks which point to a safe location of your custom mods and config files in no time.
#4
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Date Posted: 23 Jul @ 12:00am
Posts: 4
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