Valve's Steam software is undoubtedly the most popular gaming digital storefront on the planet. Beginning life in 2003, the PC gaming service recently hit 50,000 game listings, giving players access to simply thousands and thousands of choices, from AAA titles to obscure indie releases made by a single person. Valve continues to update the platform, sometimes introducing new features, and a recent patent shows that there may be some more things on the horizon which could improve the service's quality of life.
In a recent post on Twitter, user Pavel Djundik, who some will recognize as the creator of SteamDB which is a site that often posts about upcoming Steam sale rumors, has linked to a patent filed by Valve which talks about a number of patents and systems which is likely related to its Steam service, although it doesn't specifically say so on the site. Djundik's tweet sums it up by saying that the patent will introduce a method of "tracking game file read operations" and will allow users to begin playing games before they finish downloading, which it calls "Instant Play" and sounds similar to Xbox One's FastStart feature.
Additionally, it looks like Steam may also be introducing a prefetch system which will "decrease latency" when loading games. The patent also includes a way of removing old and unused data to free up storage. In an additional tweet, Djundik says that game developers won't need to do anything on their end.
With Steam also having a significant update recently, particularly in regard to the way it manages downloads, Valve is obviously looking to improve the quality of life on its most popular and lucrative asset. It could go a long way to reducing a lot of lag in some aspects, as described above in the patent, specifically when talking about the potential for people to play games before they finish fully downloading, and with a possible reduction in latency when titles are booted up.
It's perhaps not a coincidence that this patent is being filed right in the midst of the gaming world talking about the company's upcoming Steam Deck portable device. Valve announced the Switch-like device a few months ago, and there's been quite a lot of buzz around it. The fact that the company is now filing a patent to improve the quality of life in its Steam platform is perhaps something it's looking to implement just in time for the Deck's launch at the end of this year.