Game unistalled itself and now I have to reinstall it?

Graygirl · July 2021

I just now went to play, and the game has to reinstall. I'm a Steam user. Any idea what gives? It'll take forever to download, but how did it uninstall in the first place?

SeaGtGruff · July 2021

It's possible that Steam simply lost track of where the game files are.

If that's the case, sometimes you can tell Steam where the game files are and you won't need to reinstall it. Search for "steam says game not installed" and try the solutions that don't involve reinstalling the game.

This happened to me once on my old computer, before my hard drive crashed. Apparently it can happen if you shut down or force quit Steam while ESO or some other game is still running, in which case Steam can't update its own files properly and can lose track of where the game is. In my case, my older computer started freezing up while I was playing ESO-- and at other times, but playing ESO was what I spent most of my time doing on the computer-- so I would often have to use Task Manager to shut down ESO and Steam. Later I found out the hard way that my hard drive had too little free space and was getting ready to crash, which it finally did-- although that's unrelated to my Steam issue, other than indirectly being what led me to have to keep shutting down ESO and Steam through Task Manager.

Tyreal1974 · July 2021

This has been a reoccurring issue for Steam users that has happened for years now with no resolution from ZOS or Valve to correct. You can do a search of the ESO/Steam forums to find multiple posts of this problem with no resolution, or interest in fixing the problem, in sight. There used to be a way to just launch ESO by creating a shortcut to the ESO64.exe or the Bethesda.net_launcher.exe that worked , and I did that years ago, to stop this issue from happening however that work around was closed I believe. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure the only long term fix for this issue now is to repurchase ESO from a different vendor besides Steam which is pretty crappy IMO since this has been a known issue for some time now.

Folkb · July 2021

I've had that issue with steam games before. Not eso but other games on steam.

ghost_bg_ESO · July 2021

See if game folder is still in place: something like >> program files > steam > steamapps > common > zenimax. If it is in place find in there launcher folder > bethesda_net - you can't logging but will know if it works. Then see steam forum or ask for appmanifest 306130. It may work.

Steam tends to forget some games locations... and restarting steam usually works, sometimes require repair or reinstall.

Viewsfrom6ix · July 2021

ghost_bg_ESO wrote: »

See if game folder is still in place: something like >> program files > steam > steamapps > common > zenimax. If it is in place find in there launcher folder > bethesda_net - you can't logging but will know if it works. Then see steam forum or ask for appmanifest 306130. It may work.

Steam tends to forget some games locations... and restarting steam usually works, sometimes require repair or reinstall.

Yup!

This has happened to me before. Steam bugged out and deleted the manifest file for ESO and thinks the game isn't installed.

Search for steam ESO manifest file on google and copy and paste it the app manifest directory under steamapps.

ZOS_Bill · July 2021

@Graygirl

What is the exact message coming up when you try launching ESO?

rsscottonb16_ESO · July 2021

Happened to me to and I am NOT on Steam. Reported 12 hrs ago on EU Crash thread and no reply!

rsscottonb16_ESO · July 2021

Game files all there in my directory but launcher wanted only to 'Install'. Now I'm stuck unable to play and on the first day of a new event! Most annoying was no reply in the earlier thread

ZOS_Bill · July 2021

@rsscottonb16_ESO

If your launcher appears to be redownloading or repatching the game, please exit the launcher, reopen the launcher, and then try the following workarounds based on what the Launcher's button says:

1. If the "Play" button reads "Install"

Click the install button, and start downloading.
Once the download begins, shutdown the launcher.
Restart the launcher.
Expand the Game Options menu (Cog wheel located above the News Feed).
It should say Updating…., under that it should say Cancel. Click Cancel.
The expanded tab should now change to include "Repair". Click Repair, and wait for it to finish.

2. If "Play" button reads "Pause" during the download process:

Expand the Game Options menu (Cog wheel located above the News Feed).
If the tab says "Installing…", restart the launcher.
When the tab says "Updating….", Click Cancel.
The expanded tab should now change to include "Repair".
Click Repair, and wait for it to finish.

The repair process will go through a loop of verify -> download -> verify until all the files are repaired. The progress bar will therefore go from 0 to 100 multiple times before it finishes. It is possible that the system will need to download large files.

deyjasagus · July 2021

Graygirl wrote: »

I just now went to play, and the game has to reinstall. I'm a Steam user. Any idea what gives? It'll take forever to download, but how did it uninstall in the first place?

Were you an ESO+ subscriber that let your subscription lapse? I've noticed with Steam that if you cancel your ESO+ membership or let it lapse Steam will automatically uninstall the game on the date you would normally pay for the subscription, even though you have the base game and as such can play for free.

If you purchased your game after November of 2016 and you want to bypass Steam entirely you can do so by logging into your ESO account and purchasing the base game from the store. This will then show you have both the Standard and Steam editions. I would recommend waiting to do this until the next F2P weekend since it will cut the base game down by more than 50% which is what I did during the last F2P period.

After that you can use the Bethesda.net_Launcher.exe file directly to update the game when a patch or expansion comes out and the eso64.exe file to play the game. This completely bypasses Steam from having any control over the game files from that point forward and if you want to manage a subscription you can continue doing so now directly from the ESO site once you are logged in.

Graygirl · August 2021

No, I am an ESO member buy my membership hadn't lapsed. I still have over 6 months left.

Anyway, the game seemed to take ages to do what it was doing -- patching, maybe? Then it started.

Graygirl · August 2021

Anyway, thanks to everyone who responded.

ZOS_Bill · August 2021

Thank you for the update that the install finally finished. As the problem is resolved, this thread will now be closed.