Valve upgrading Steam’s content delivery system

Valve has announced that quite a few new changes to Steam’s content delivery system will be rolling out over the next few months.

What does this mean for you? Well, it doesn’t mean anything bad, that’s for sure. As it currently stands, when you receive an update to a particular file, Steam will have download the entire file, rather than simply downloading the difference. The new system changes that, only downloading the updated file. This will obviously significantly reduce patch times and, hopefully, server strain.

Speaking of server strain, that is something Valve will be addressing with the new system, too. The “maximum aggregate bandwidth” of the new system has been increased, meaning that, ideally, the servers shouldn’t get hammered into the ground whenever a new game is released – or when Steam throws one of its sales.

The new system isn’t just for consumers, though. The publisher end of the Steam system has seen a bit of a reworking as well, providing developers a more simplified process to get their game up on Steam.

Valve stated that as time passes, more and more content will be distributed over Steam, including Dota 2.