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Mods are the perfect way to extend the life of a game that you’ve already played extensively. So here’s how to mod your Steam games using the Steam Workshop.
What Is the Steam Workshop?
The Steam Workshop is an official service provided by Valve and integrated into the Steam client. It was set up to allow people to easily publish and download mods for their favorite games without requiring any technical expertise. And it’s one of thereasons why all PC gamers should use Steam.
Not every game will be compatible with the Steam Workshop. For a game to use it, the developer has to enable it and set it up to work with their game. However, games with a dedicated modding community will usually have Steam Workshop set up for it.
Best of all, the Steam Workshop uses the same automatic update technology that it uses for its games. Whenever a mod gets an update, it will arrive on your PC without you needing to lift a finger.
How to Find the Steam Workshop for a Specific Game
To check if a game you own has a Steam Workshop page, go to your Steam library and click on the game. Look for theWorkshopcategory in the bar displayed under thePlaybutton; if you’re able to see it, your game is compatible with the Steam Workshop. Click on it to visit that game’s page on the Steam Workshop.
Popular games that include Steam Workshop mods include Garry’s Mod, Team Fortress 2, Cities: Skylines, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Rimworld. If you want to check if a game has Steam Workshop support without first adding it to your library, go to theSteam Workshop siteand search for a specific game.
If you don’t see this category, check with the developers to see if they have plans to add mod support in a future update. This also applies to games published under Early Access, as developers will usually release them without mod support and add it later down the roadmap.
Different games will feature different kinds of mods, depending on the genre of the title and what the developer allows people to create. For example, you may use Steam Workshop tomake your own board game in Tabletop Simulator.
How to Install a Steam Workshop Mod
If you have a rough idea of what you want to download, you can use theSearchbox at the top right. If you know what kind of mod you’d like to download, use Steam’s category selector on the right. These categories will change depending on the game and what parts the developers let you download mods for.
Once you find a mod you want, hover over its entry and click thegreen plusicon. If you’d like to learn more about the mod, you can click on it to visit its information page. From here, you can see screenshots, the mod’s description, and user comments.
Once done, you should see your game appear in Steam’s download manager. This shows the current status of your mod downloads. Once the download finishes, your mods are ready to go.
When you next boot up the game, it will begin installing your mods. Most games with Steam Workshop integration will display a dialog box showing the progress of your mod installations. Once all your mods are installed, you’re free to use them in-game.
If you want, you can also add the mod to a collection. Collections are a curated list of mods that players can share through the Steam Workshop. You can create your own to recommend specific mods to others, and can check out other people’s collections.
To add a mod to your curated list, click onCollection. If this is the first one you’ve created, Steam will guide you through the process of making a collection.
How to Save Steam Workshop Mods
To see your favorites, visit the Steam Workshop page for your chosen game. On the right, underYour Workshop Files, clickYour Files,thenYour favorites. you’re able to remove a mod from this list by clicking the star button next to it.
How to Remove Mods From a Game on Steam
Can Steam Workshop Mods Contain Malware?
Given how easy it is for people to upload mods onto the Steam Workshop, it’s understandable to be concerned about whether a mod can contain malware. Steam can automatically install and update mods, so what’s to stop someone from using it to distribute a virus?
Generally, Steam Workshop mods are safe. There have been rare instances where someone used the Steam Workshop to distribute malware. For example, as reported byGameRant, a mod called Downfall for Slay the Spire distributed malware after hackers managed to get into the mod developer’s account and uploaded the payload into the code.
However, these cases are the exception rather than the rule. For the most part, you’re able to download mods without worrying about any malicious code sneaking onto your system.
Mods are a fantastic way to play a game the way you want and the Steam Workshop makes it easy to do this. Now you know how to mod your games, manage what you’ve downloaded, and remove any that you end up falling out of love with.
