Steam downloads are better, faster and smaller

Steam moves data. That’s its thing. This weekend, it started doing its thing a little better.

Valve announced on Friday that they’ve managed to improve data delivery within the application thanks to new server and client code. This system should provide better download rates worldwide as well as allow the publishing process to be streamlined. That means more games for everyone since they’ll take less time to ship, hooray!

The new system should be better at handling usage spikes (like, say, when they’ve discounted Left 4 Dead 2 to $4.99, cough) and getting past firewalls. Each user will also have to download less data when it comes to patches — only the differences between files will actually be delivered, meaning that your updates just got a LOT smaller.

Future updates will allow users to schedule downloads, prioritize them and throttle bandwidth when necessary (if you’ve got limits, I know you feel the pain). You’ll also be able to download game updates while you play instead of waiting for them to finish before you can start. (The system will apply the patches and updates after you exit the game.)

If you want to give this a shot right now, download a trailer from the store. Otherwise, more and more content will eventually use it, including Dota 2, which should be on its way “soon.”