How do non-Steam games get updated? (SOLVED)

[Zemecon]

Given that this topic is not about Steam, I decided to put this thread in here.

So, probably a lot of you have atleast one non-Steam game. What usually happens is that you download the version of that game that is current at the time you download it, but later on that game may get updated on the site you got it from. Since these sites don't use a third-party service like Steam to carry out the updates directly to your game, how does your game get updated? Will there be something in the download that links to the developer's site or do you need to update your game manually by replacing it with a more current version from the site?

Any info on this would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!

EDIT: Question answered so thread title was changed to reflect this. Thanks to everyone who posted.

[Zemecon]

Originally posted by Emperor of W/R "jemdeme eur":

it is called an updater, even mods have me fam.....

What would an updater application look like? What file extensions do they typically have?

EDIT: Fixed a typo.

[Crystal Sharrd]

Originally posted by Salinité:

Originally posted by Emperor of W/R "jemdeme eur":

it is called an updater, even mods have me fam.....

What would an updater application look like? What file extensions do they typically have?

EDIT: Fixed a typo.

On Windows, exe.

[Zemecon]

OK, then the .exe application that launches the game must also update it because in most of the non-Steam games I have there is no separate updater .exe application. Is this true?

[Mr.Zombie]

Some might rely on manually installed patches too, but I haven't seen any games do that in a long time.

[Zemecon]

Ah OK. I wonder if a game will tell you if it updates that way on their site... Thanks.

[Zemecon]

OK. That makes sense. I will watch for that, then. Thanks!

[Crystal Sharrd]

Depends on the game, really. Some games require you to manually install the update, some have separate update programs you have to run, and with other games the game's own executable searches for and installs updates.

[Zemecon]

Huh. OK. That is interesting. So I should be watching for patchnotes as well as looking through my game folder.Battlebugs, for instance, only seems to have one single file and that is the game application itself. So I take it I will need to update that game manually, then...?