How do you patch a game

In general, patches are supplied from the game designers either by an in-game update (such as what happens in Guild Wars) or through a check when you pre-launch the game (such as World of Warcraft). When the game determines that patches are available, it automatically applies them to your installation.

As a secondary method, these patch files are executables and can also be run on their own to patch your game. World of Warcraft stores these patch files in the PATCH folder, and running them in order from there can also patch a game.

Such patch files are available generally from download sites. Be careful, because it is also possible to contract computer viruses from use of a third party site.