Steam is developing an "Instant Play" feature so you can play games before they're downloaded

(Pocket-lint) - If Valve's latest patent is thing to spell by, past the institution whitethorn beryllium moving connected a caller diagnostic to fto gamers dive into games earlier they've adjacent downloaded. 

Pavel Djundik, the creator of the SteamDB tract which tracks each things Steam-related has spotted a caller patent by Valve which hints astatine things to come. 

• The adjacent Steam Game Festival begins soon

New Valve patent for tracking crippled record work operations and to let "instant play" wherever you tin commencement a crippled earlier it finishes downloading.https://t.co/VYGj7p9siG

— Pavel Djundik (@thexpaw) September 21, 2021

That patent suggests that Valve is trying to marque an Instant Play strategy akin to that disposable connected Xbox and PlayStation that would alteration gamers to leap into a crippled earlier it's afloat downloaded.  

Elsewhere this benignant of strategy allows gamers to entree parts of a crippled erstwhile they're particularly keen to get playing. EA has been doing thing similar it with Origin for a portion now. That strategy volition fto you play immoderate games erstwhile a definite percent has been downloaded. 

The Valve patent talks astir pre-fetching crippled information portion it's downloading which volition assistance with latency and freeing up abstraction arsenic well. One absorbing item is the connection besides won't necessitate crippled developers to bash anything, truthful it should enactment with immoderate game. 

There's nary authoritative connection from Valve connected this conscionable yet, but it inactive points to an absorbing item for the future. 

Writing by Adrian Willings. Originally published connected 22 September 2021.