Bandwidth for video game downloads will be throttled as many people need internet than ever

Photo by Sean Do on Unsplash

Video games, especially AAA titles require a lot of data to download or update, as many people are stuck at home, they turn to video games to spend their free time, that's why Steam has seen a record number of Concurrent online gamers last week. This all seems well for gamers, but what about the people who need the internet that want to stream movies to spend their time.

Video game downloads take up a lot of bandwidth of the internet, that's why Akamai is working with popular software companies like Microsoft and Sony to reduce the bandwidth of video game downloads so that everyone staying at home will get their fair share of the internet.

However, this will not hurt the ping when someone plays an online game like battle royals, this will only affect the download speed of the game or an update, Akamai wrote on their blog saying,

"This increased usage is causing concern about whether the internet will be able to continue handling the ever-increasing amounts of traffic. As a result, some major regulators, carriers, and content providers are taking steps to reduce load during peak traffic times in an effort to avert online gridlock.  For example, European regulators have asked telecom providers and streaming platforms to switch to standard definition video during periods of peak demand."

This bandwidth shortage will be implemented during the peak hours of internet usage, which means you can download or update your games during the night time with high speeds where internet usage is low as everyone will be in their sleep, Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment said ""Playing video games enables people all over the world to connect with friends and family and enjoy much needed entertainment during these uncertain times. Our goal is to partner with other leaders in the industry to help ensure gamers are able to enjoy engaging experiences."

This will also help the people who are working tirelessly in these testing times as Akamai noted, even more importantly, this will help ensure healthcare workers and first responders working hard to contain the spread of COVID-19 have continual access to the vital digital services they need.

This will also affect the video game streaming, as the quality will be reduced to normal definition instead of high definition like 1080p, 2k or 4k during peak hours of the internet usage, this data bandwidth shortage will continue until people return back to their work and internet usage is normal again.