How to add game files to steam download

How to save Steam game installs locally?

Tue Dec 06, 2016 2:32 pm

Is there any way to store game installs from Steam/Origin/etc etc locally so said game can be re-installed later without having to re-download?

I thought of this for two reasons:
I like to occasionally go back and replay some of my more favorite games.  This could be a number of years after I first played/beat said game.  Normally I play a game through and then uninstall it from my SSD to make room for the next batch.  In the past, when you bought games on CD/DVD, it was a matter of just popping the disc back in and doing the install.  With the advent of online stores like Steam, you download/install the game from the host (ie Steam).  This wasn't a big deal up until a couple years ago when the largest game was 6GB.  Nowadays, games are HUGE.  They take an eternity to download, not to mention a growing number of ISPs have download caps.  It seems like it would be so much easier if you could save the install locally.  I feel like this should be possible.  You then install the game from your local storage, and when you launch the game it looks for your Steam credentials, maybe download some minimal patches, and you're in.

A co-worker of mine used to game quite a bit.  Nowadays life is busy so he doesn't have as much time for gaming.  He also has a pretty restrictive 20GB/mo download cap which essentially prevents him from being able to download modern games.  I figure if I could download the game install to an external hdd for him so he could install it locally, that wouldn't affect his cap.

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