(Obsolete) How to revert to the original version of Saints Row IV

Update (18/12/2022) - The Legacy branch of the game in the Betas tab now works as intended and can be used to download the original version of the game, before the Re-Elected update hit.

As of December 8th 2022, all existing Steam versions of Saints Row IV were forcibly "upgraded" to Saints Row IV: Re-Elected. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. Here is how to get your original version of the game back.

Requirements

You will need to install .NET 6.0 desktop runtime and download Depot Downloader in order to do this. The latest version of Depot Downloader as of this writing is 2.4.7.

Unfortunately I cannot provide direct links to these for you, you will have to find them yourself.

Downloading The Game Data

1. Extract Depot Downloader anywhere you like. I have a dedicated Utilities folder for programs such as this one so I put mine there.


2. Create a new .txt file in the folder that Depot Downloader is in.

3. Open the .txt file and enter the following. You can copy and paste this into the file from here, just be sure to replace the bracketed username and password parts with your actual username and password. Save and close it when done.

dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app 206420 -depot 206421 -manifest 32002699204955846 -username (YOUR STEAM USERNAME) -password (YOUR STEAM PASSWORD)

Note: I realise that this part seems incredibly suspicious, but I can personally attest that this is legitimate. Check the Questions section for proof.

4. Change the file name extension from ".txt" to ".bat". You may have to enable file name extensions to do this.

5. Run the .bat file

This will open a command prompt window with all of the text that you input while it was a .txt file, then it will get started after a few seconds.

Be sure not to show this to anyone such as in a stream, as it will show them your Steam username and password!

If you have two factor authentication enabled on your Steam account - which you really should - you will be prompted to enter your authentication code. Do so. You may also get a Windows SmartScreen warning. That's normal, let it run anyway.


Depot Downloader will then begin downloading the bulk of Saints Row IV's game files. This will take some time and create a new folder named "depots" in your Depot Downloader which is where the downloaded files are going.

This process will always generate a folder named "206421" and another one in a moment named "206422" for the uncensored version or "206425" for the censored version. Within each of them, there will be a subfolder that will have an eight digit name - specifically, "10105076" - and the contents of these identically named subfolders are what we want.

Once it finishes, command prompt will automatically close. The next thing we need to do is grab the correct .exe file; however, Low Violence version owners will need to do a little more.

Downloading The Executable

IF YOU HAVE THE UNCENSORED ROW (REST OF WORLD) VERSION

1. Right-click on the .bat file and open it in any text editor.

2. Change "206421" to "206422".

3. Change "32002699204955846" to "6013726710204312506".

4. Save, close and run the file. This will download the .exe.

IF YOU HAVE THE CENSORED AUSTRALIAN LOW VIOLENCE VERSION

There is a little bit more that needs to be done to restore this version. I blame Michael Atkinson.

1. Right-click on the .bat file and open it in any text editor.

2. Change "206421" to "206425".

3. Change "32002699204955846" to "3029064039942818866".

4. Save, close and run the file. This will download the .exe.

5. Open the .bat file again.

6. Change "206425" to "206424".

7. Change "3029064039942818866" to "4175297753291580241"

8. Save, close, run one more time. This will download the files that were altered due to the demands of our Aussie government overlords.

Rebuilding The Game

Now that you've got everything downloaded, all you need to do is copy and paste the right things to the right location.


1. Open the game's directory.

2. Delete everything in the folder. You will know that you are in the correct place if there is a folder called "redist" in the game directory that has an installer for Epic's online services in it.

(Pictured: The parasite, seconds before eradication.)

3. In the "depots" folder that Depot Downloader created, open the folder named "206421" and then the folder within it named "10105076".

4. Copy and paste the contents to wherever the game's data was that you deleted in step 2. It will look like there are two or three files missing compared to before, but that's normal since the redist folder was a Re-Elected update addition and we are about to throw the .exe in.

If you have the...

...UNCENSORED VERSION:

4. Go back to the depots folder and copy the .exe file from "206422", placing it alongside the rest of the game files you copied in step 3.

...LOW VIOLENCE VERSION:

4. Same as above, but you're getting the .exe file from "206425" instead.

5. Additionally, copy the files from "206424" into the game directory and overwrite everything it asks you to.

Conclusion

You can delete the ".DepotDownloader" folder, it doesn't need to remain in the game's directory. With all of that done, it should now look like this:
My SRIV installation is on my F: drive but the path after that will be the same if you've done everything right.

You're finished! Now you can continue to enjoy Saints Row IV the way you always used to.

The icon for the game's .exe might change to look like the Epic Games logo, but that doesn't seem to actually affect anything.

Please note that due to the fact that I own the uncensored version of the game, I am unable to personally test the censored version to verify that the extra steps needed to get it working are correct although I am certain it will work. If anybody is able to and would like to test the method that I outlined, feel free to let me know and I will update the guide should I need to.

If you would prefer not to use Depot Downloader or even the method outlined in this guide for any reason, then I advise you to instead follow Batata's guide:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2899380550
It uses Steam's console to download the game's files and additionally includes the original library assets for those who want to completely and perfectly rebuild the game down to its artwork.

Questions

Q. "Does this allow me to play the uncensored version of the game if I bought the censored version, or vice versa?"
A. No. I found this out myself by trying to download the data from the version that I didn't own. I live in Australia and received the uncensored version as a Steam gift, so I have to download the uncensored version of the game. You have to download the version that matches the one that you purchased and there's no legitimate way around it.

Q. "Does this allow me to get the game for free if I don't already own it?"
A. No. Depot Downloader uses your Steam info to retrieve these depots, which is also why the method in the previous question doesn't let you pick and choose between the censored or uncensored version of the same game regardless which one you bought. Piracy is bad, m'kay?

Q. "Is Depot Downloader/this method safe to use?"
A. Yes. I received credit in a Steam guide on how to use this procedure to downgrade SUPERHOT VR to restore some scenes that the developers promised not to edit out of the game, then later edited out of the game anyway. See here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2553741268
There is a bit more to it in this case due to the two different versions of Saints Row IV creating a few extra steps, but the method does not get any more complicated, only needing to be tweaked and repeated no more than once or twice.

Q. "What if the game gets updated again?"
A. You will simply have to repeat the process to restore your old version of the game, including using Depot Downloader to redownload everything if you didn't keep the files that you downloaded through it the first time.

Q. "Why not just revert to the legacy version using the Betas tab?"
A. It is the exact same as the updated Re-Elected version and just as broken as a result. The only way to actually revert to the pre-Re-Elected version as of this guide's initial writing is to download an older version of the game.
Thanks to #Gamer#2002 for confirming this!
Update (18/12/2022) - The legacy version of the game has been fixed and you can now use the Betas tab to roll the game back to its original version before the Re-Elected update. No fuss.
Thanks to bim_1337 for the information!

[ByB | Protax]

@ThePostalGamer - Awesome, appreciate the confirmation on this. Will download the update and then hop on the beta as well as show my buddy how to do it. Just in time for the yearly saints save christmas DLC tradition we got going. Merry christmas! Thanks again.

[ThePostalGamer]

@ByB | Protax
Yes, I can personally confirm that you can now use the Betas tab to download the legacy version and play it as normal, even after letting the update come through! You shouldn't have any problems playing co-op as well, as long as you're both using the same version of course. The only catch is that you can't co-op if one of you has the Australian version and the other has the uncensored version but that's a separate issue.

[ByB | Protax]

@ThePostalGames - Thanks for the reply! Jeez, that's even worse than I thought. I see your edit/update and the below from @bim_1337 below saying this is supposedly fixed? I haven't ran the update through yet, but If I were to, I could just go with the beta/legacy version. Same for my friend who just bought this yesterday so we could do the saints save christmas DLC before christmas eve together.

[ThePostalGamer]

@ByB | Protax
As far as I've seen online, the Re-Elected update removed two pieces of DLC, those being the Super Saints Pack and the Thank You Pack. Outside of that, there are also a lot of reports of corrupted save data, broken mods, bad performance or the game failing to even launch and there wouldn't have been any major backlash if they just did the same thing as Skyrim or Bioshock by just giving Re-Elected to all existing SRIV owners.

Finally, Epic's online service installer in the files hasn't gone unnoticed, which is used by their launcher and has been found to poke through the user's Steam friends list and their play history which bypasses your profile privacy setting, all without your permission or knowledge and in direct breach of the General Data Protection Regulation. In a nutshell, it's an update that breaks the game almost completely, removes content that you paid for and incorporates a shady program from a developer that is currently hellbent on monopolising PC gaming.

[ByB | Protax]

Can someone tell me why the forced change/upgrade is a bad thing? I haven't downloaded the update yet, but I don't see why this is a problem? Have they removed a bunch of things or?

[bim_1337]

Betas/Legacy is now working:

SIRV Legacy Branch pulling the wrong build on Steam - this should now be fixed

[SrGato350]

Soon we will say:
"Download the game from Steam,start it, and then close it to download the pirated version and replace the game folder to continue playing it via steam".

[Gamer#2002]

To let my inner pedantic free for a second, the following:
"There is one more process remaining and this once again varies slightly depending"

Might flow ever so slightly more cleanly then.
> There is one more step left and this varies depending

[Gamer#2002]

Now for the "fun" of trying to get my saves made via "GameSave Manager" to be recognised.

Work what ever my 2 cents are worth, I personally did not have a problem however one can in most cases (technically speaking for 99.9999% of cases.*) can never go into much detail especially when it comes to technical matters.

I can confirm that the answer for last question, re the "legacy" beta cannel/tab is correct.

Having a red highlight for selection in addition to the online co-op message text rendering half broken what "just" what I was looking for, so thanks a million devs. (might be more than a little sarcastic).

* Number might have been pull from a black hole.

Still am unable to find anything else but a post delete button on the desktop client.

[ThePostalGamer]

@Gamer#2002
Glad to see you got it working. I will change the wording so it's more clear that you need the contents of the "10105076" subfolders. I thought that "open the folder named "206421" and copy the contents of the folder inside it to where the game's data was" was clear enough but in hindsight it was easy to overlook given the scope of the guide and how small that note actually was.