Patch scheduling for on-line games

One of the challenges facing the on-line gaming community is the delivery of new content to players. While the initial distribution of a game is typically done via large media formats such as CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, consumers expect regular updates to on-line games such as bug fixes, balance adjustments, and new content. In this paper, we develop a model for the bandwidth impact of patch delivery based on the time of day of the patch release. We evaluate our model against the Steam content delivery network and determine the best time to release a patch to be midway between the peak and trough of daily player load. Categories and Subject Descriptors C.2.4 [Distributed Systems]: Distributed Applications General Terms Performance, Management, Measurement Keywords games, updates, patches

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: NETGAMES
• Authors: Chris Chambers, Wu-chang Feng
• Keywords: NETGAMES 2005, On-line Gaming Community, Patch Delivery, Steam Content Delivery