If your computer has ever surprised you with a loud roar, only for you to discover that Space Marine 2 is frantically installing a massive 9 billion gigabyte update on Steam, then Valve’s new upcoming feature may be of interest to you. Typically, Steam automatically downloads updates for installed games whenever they are released, sometimes at inconvenient times. However, the platform is currently testing a new option in the beta client that allows users to choose to download new updates only when they launch a game. While this feature may not be ideal for everyone, it will be optional and not the new default setting.
Valve explains their reasoning for introducing this new feature. Currently, Steam downloads game updates shortly after they are released for games that have been recently played. For games that haven’t been played in a while, Steam may wait to bundle multiple updates together or schedule the updates during off-peak times. However, Valve acknowledges that this default behavior may not suit everyone’s needs, particularly for users with limited internet connections or bandwidth caps.
To address this issue, Valve has added a dropdown menu in the download settings that allows users to change the global default setting so that updates for all games will only be downloaded when the game is launched. This menu provides users with more control over their download preferences.
While users can already customize update settings on a per-game basis, this new feature allows them to apply the same setting to all installed games without the need to adjust settings individually for each game. Currently available in the beta client, users can opt in to test this feature. While some users may find it beneficial for managing bandwidth usage, others may prefer the convenience of automatic updates. It is anticipated that this feature will be integrated into the stable branch of Steam in the near future.
