Last week, Valve finally fixed a longstanding issue with users not being able to access local network game transfers, and all was right with the world. Well, not really, as it has now fixed even more problems causing that issue. But this time, it might be done… hopefully.
In a discussion board announcing a Steam Client Update on August 3, Valve said it has "fixed additional cases preventing local network game transfers from starting."
It doesn't say what exactly those problems are, but one can assume they were reported after the local game transfer fix last week. If you're wondering why people care about this issue, local transfers are a way of bypassing using the internet to transfer games.
For a long time, users would attempt to transfer game files, but only be greeted with the option to download it via Steam itself. If your bandwidth isn't very good or you are operating on limited data, this could be a problem. That's especially true for 100 GB+ games that could take hours over the internet.
So now, as long as your Steam Client is updated to the latest stable channel, you should be able to transfer games locally without a problem. Provided you have another system with them already installed and waiting to be transferred, of course. Luckily, to actually get onto the latest version of Steam, you don't have to do anything. It should install and update all by itself.
As well as fixing the local network game transfer problem, the latest Steam Client update has also fixed a problem where Steam asked players to choose a user on startup even if it wasn't requested. It's a fairly light update but, if it actually fixes the local network woes, a pretty good one all the same.
I haven't yet seen any reports of local network game transfers not working after the release of the update, which is a good sign, and one commenter even claims it fixes their issues on GNU/Linux. If you happen to have multiple rigs, or even both a home rig and a Steam Machine plugged into your TV, I could see this being a great way to get around bandwidth problems and get your games a little quicker, too.
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