Valve has been delaying adding this feature to Steam for years, so users are creating their own tools to improve downloading files

Valve is working on some small and big improvements for their digital store, but they still haven't added a certain desired feature. That's why Steam fans themselves add a modest but useful novelty: automatic computer shutdown after the download of games or updates is completed.

Avaneesh13 is by no means the first person to come up with a similar idea. Similar tools have already appeared before (via Steam / Reddit), and here and there, internet users recommend using the command line.

However, what is understandable, users have problems with both solutions. This first one raises concerns due to the need to download files from outside the official source.

On the other side, the second one not only requires the use of the command line (let's face it: it's not overly difficult, but the average player may have an aversion to messing with CMD). First and foremost, the user can only set the time after which the system will shut down. Meanwhile, if you're trying to download a lot of data (like when a player wants to use this feature), even a temporary drop in bandwidth can make the download take longer than Steam initially shows.

Going back to the Avaneesh13 tool: SteamDown lets you set a time for the app to shut down Steam or the entire system if there's no activity related to downloading. The user can also choose whether to fully shut down the system or just put it to sleep mode.

For details, refer to the internet user's post, which you can find on Reddit.

Did Valve forget about this feature?

Some internet users are wondering why Valve hasn't added this option for over a decade, despite players asking for it. It's easy to come across threads from the previous decade where the authors don't want their computer to be left on all night just because they have to wait a few hours for games or big updates to download. Since then, the size of modern games has grown so much that even with a faster Internet connection, one game can take a very, very long time to download.

We know from elsewhere that the owner of Steam takes the development of his platform seriously. Only in recent years has Valve released a huge number of fixes and improvements for the store and game collection, as well as additional features. Despite this, the option to shut down the system after the download has somehow still not hit Steam. Can it be released this year? Unfortunately, for now, users are left with only unofficial solutions.

• Steam
• Valve
• digital distribution