Steam introduces new default option for automatic game updates

Valve, an American video game developer, is testing an option in the new Steam client beta, forcing games by default to only install updates when you launch them.

Valve stated: “For games you recently played, Steam will download game updates shortly after they are released. For games that you haven’t played in a while, Steam might wait a few days to bundle multiple updates together or choose to download the update while you are asleep.”

This new default option is set to wait to download an update gives players more control, as Valve points out, those users hold an updating a massive game until they actually want to play it.

You’ll easily find the new option in the beta Steam client settings under the Downloads section. “You can set the default to: let Steam decide when to update the game (based on factors like when you last played the game, bandwidth availability, etc.) or wait to update until the game is launched,” Valve added.

According to Valve, you can still set per-game download settings in a game’s Properties that override the global setting, but those options have “cleaned-up descriptions.”