Valve is testing an option in the new beta version of the Steam client that will make games download updates by default only when you launch them.
Currently, Steam decides which updates to download for a game by default based on a few different things. As Valve explains:
For games you’ve played recently, Steam will download updates shortly after they’re released. For games that you haven’t played in a while, Steam may wait a few days to merge multiple updates together, or download the update while you sleep.
This new default option gives players more control; as Valve notes, it means that users can postpone updating a big game until they really want to play it, which can be a relief for people with limited bandwidth.
You will find the new option in the Steam client beta settings in the Downloads section. “You can set the default to: let Steam decide when to update the game (based on factors such as when you last played the game, bandwidth availability, etc.) or wait for the update before launching the game,” Valve says.
In the game’s properties, you can still set download settings for each individual game, which will replace the global settings, but, according to Valve, these options have “cleaner descriptions.” And in the beta, you can also manage game-specific settings in the Steam client’s general download settings.
