Comment by GabrielTFS
6 days ago
Moving away from Program Files would cost far more than it's worth - it'd cause lots of issue for a massive amount of users and be of very little value for others, when the only practical issue with the Steam folder being in Program Files right now is people going "oh I didn't expect that directory to be writable I guess" which is not something worth spending a bunch of time orchestrating a massive transition over.
It's literally in the name: PROGRAM files. It was never meant to store variable data.
It's also assumed that its contents can be safely restored from original sources, so Program Files is often not backed up - because it's wasteful and not needed.
Rogue developers thinking they know better than the people who actually designed the system and ignoring the rules put in place is the source of an untold number of problems in the software world. It's absolutely stupid and I have no empathy for the problems caused as a result of their laziness. This attitude is why modern Linux is a complete clusterfuck, a free-for-all with components duct taped together every which way. Do it right or don't do it at all.
How are the games not programs?
The save files don't go in the steam folder, they go into per-user Documents or AppData.
There is something oddly satisyfing that in 2026, there are people out there complaining that Steam installs programs into Program Files.