Steam Changes Auto-Update Policy In Response To Coronavirus, Stay-At-Home Concerns

In order to better manage data usage and downloads on its side during these times of social distancing, Steam said it will only push updates to games that have been played within the last three days.

According to a blog post, all other infrequently-played titles will need to be manually updated as Steam has "schedul[ed these] updates for the next off-peak local time period." The post said this new auto-update policy will take effect this week.

Steam also made a number of suggestions to assist with reducing data strain. Scheduling updates for some games, opting out of auto-updates for other games, and self-throttling your own connection to Steam are some ways the company hopes you can "ease the load on your network connection" while stuck at home. Steam said it is also "looking into additional solutions to help on our side."

Sony took similar measures in both Europe and the US, mitigating the impact of the PlayStation Network in order to maintain internet reliability during social distancing due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

In other Steam news, the realistic military FPS Insurgency: Sandstorm is free on PC right now through April 1. If you happen to miss that short window to play it, the Standard edition is 50% off, slashing the price from $30 to $15. While they're no longer free, both Cities: Skylines and Kerbal Space Program are also discounted on Steam.