Originally posted by Boblin the Goblin:

One of Valve's main reasons for creating Steam was seamless updating if games. They aren't going to prevent developers from updating their games.

Originally posted by Crashed:

Not all mods are officially sanctioned, and as such you are on your own if you create your mods by unofficial means like reverse engineering.

Originally posted by Crashed:

Not all mods are officially sanctioned, and as such you are on your own if you create your mods by unofficial means like reverse engineering.

Originally posted by RATSRomsla:

Dear Steam Team,

I am writing on behalf of many players in the community who are concerned about unexpected updates being pushed to older games that still have active modding scenes.

In several cases, titles that have gone years without official patches suddenly receive minor or backend updates. While these changes may seem harmless, they often break compatibility with community-created mods, which in some cases have kept the game alive for far longer than official support. Since many of these games are no longer in active development, these updates can unintentionally harm the ecosystem that continues to support them.

It is important to highlight that mods are not created overnight—many take years of development and are interdependent on one another . A sudden, even minor change to the base game can ripple outward, breaking dozens of mods that rely on each other as well as the core files. This undermines years of collaborative effort and discourages players from investing in modding at all.

Another concern is that updates to long-abandoned titles often do not come from the original development teams. Developers may no longer be employed, and updates are sometimes introduced at the request of a publisher’s marketing or business departments. These updates are often carried out by individuals or teams who have no long-term stake in or connection to the modding community, which can unintentionally cause lasting harm to the player ecosystem.

We respectfully ask that Steam consider implementing a safeguard or policy to:

• Seal game versions that have not received updates for one year, ensuring that stable legacy builds are preserved.
  
  These sealed versions would serve as archived, untouchable builds specifically to protect mod compatibility.
  
  This system would not interfere with active, regularly updated games, as only titles with no updates for one year would qualify. Regular update cycles would continue normally.
  
  New updates would still be allowed in either case, but players should always have the option to continue playing the sealed legacy version if mods depend on it.
  
  Furthermore, if no updates have been pushed for one year, it is reasonable to assume there is no active will to sanction or interfere with mods, and therefore preserving the existing build is the fairest option for the community.
  
  
• Provide an option for players to easily roll back to previous stable versions when an update is pushed.
  
  
• Encourage developers and publishers to communicate update intentions when a game has an active modding community.

This would protect both the player experience and the incredible amount of volunteer effort that goes into creating, maintaining, and sharing mods. Ultimately, it ensures that classic games remain enjoyable for future players.

Thank you for your time and for supporting both developers and communities that make gaming on Steam special.

Sincerely, Romsla

Originally posted by RATSRomsla:

added clarification for sealed versions:

These sealed versions would serve as archived, untouchable builds specifically to protect mod compatibility.

This system would not interfere with active, regularly updated games, as only titles with no updates for one year would qualify. Regular update cycles would continue normally.

New updates would still be allowed in either case, but players should always have the option to continue playing the sealed legacy version if mods depend on it.

Originally posted by TBS AlexDK:

Such is life with modding, ask the devs to add a beta branch for the version of the game that you want, or stop modding games if you cannot handle the fact that games may receive updates in the future

Originally posted by RATSRomsla:

Originally posted by TBS AlexDK:

Such is life with modding, ask the devs to add a beta branch for the version of the game that you want, or stop modding games if you cannot handle the fact that games may receive updates in the future

You missed my point that the devs might be gone, and that it is the publisher that is pushing the update without any regard for years of collaborative effort in the community.

They would not add any beta-branches and they are not interested in communication with modding community.

Originally posted by TBS AlexDK:

that does not change the fact that Valve cannot force builds for games they don't own, only the Dev / Publisher can make the builds available

Originally posted by RATSRomsla:

Originally posted by TBS AlexDK:

that does not change the fact that Valve cannot force builds for games they don't own, only the Dev / Publisher can make the builds available

Did you mean unavailable? I thought games were considered a single product, that cannot have two separete publishing agreements at once.

Originally posted by TBS AlexDK:

Also do keep in mind that not all countries look the same on modding and may even be illegal in some countries like Japan.

Originally posted by TBS AlexDK:

What are you talking about?