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Valve Updates Steam
Valve has announced that it has released new server and client code to improve its Steam download service.
The company says that the changes improve the service for both publishers and users. Valve has increased the aggregate bandwidth of the system, which will help it cope with spikes in demand for new releases, as well as service more locations around the globe. Users will also benefit during game updates. Instead of re-downloading an entire file during an update, the service will now only replace those parts of that file that are actually being updated. Therefore, game updates will be smaller and quicker. The increase in aggregate bandwidth also benefits publishers in that it has allowed Valve to write new publishing tools so publishers can ship more product quickly.
Valve says that the new code will enable future client releases that include improvements such as: game prioritization, download scheduling, bandwidth throttling, and downloading a game update while you're playing that game (the update will be applied when you leave the game).
[Thanks to reader Moon Knight for the blog]
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