Valve announced that they’ve overhauled the content delivery system of Steam. According to the publisher, the new content system promises to deliver better download rates worldwide, and to streamline the publishing process on Steam.
The new content system will require users to download less data, updates are getting tuned up in a big way — instead of re-downloading an entire file to install one update, the new system will only download the changes made to the file, because that’s what an update means. It will also be possible to update to a game while playing it.
Valve has taken advantage of the changes and have written new tools for game developers and content publishers that simplify the process of both publishing and updating a game on Steam.
Valve has written new tools for developers and publishers to simplify their behind-the-scenes processes and ship products faster. This will streamline the publishing process so that it will take the partner and Valve less time to ship each product, which is something EA in particular has been quietly vocal about changing. The new system will be applied to “more and more” content over time, beginning “soon” with the release of Dota 2 later this year. You can try it out now by downloading an HD trailer from the Steam Store.
Other new features available to users will be download scheduling, bandwidth throttling, and prioritizing which games get downloaded first. Game updates can also be download while playing the game; the update will be applied after the user exits the game.
More info here