Valve has announced that it’s rolling out a Steam update that overhauls soundtracks by no longer considering them DLC and assigning them an app type of their own.
Assigning soundtracks an app type of their own comes with several benefits for Steam users, alongside new features such as allowing developers to include multiple quality types for the sound files.
Steam Soundtracks Overhaul
Here are the points through which Valve outlined the benefits of stepping away from selling soundtracks as DLC on Steam:
- customers can now purchase soundtracks without purchasing the base game.
- customers can now download soundtracks without downloading the base game.
- customers can browse and manage their owned and downloaded soundtracks directly from the new Steam library.
- customers can configure a Steam "music" directory where all soundtrack content will be placed, rather than having to locate it in subdirectories of game content.
- developers can upload and manage soundtrack content entirely through the partner site, without using steamcmd.
- developers can sell soundtracks where the base game itself is not available for sale on Steam.
As far as new features are concerned, developers will be able to upload higher quality versions of soundtracks to Steam, giving users the option of selecting between the regular MP3 format or something like FLAC.
Soundtracks also have a new interface in the Steam Library, although Valve did state it’s minimal at the moment. Album art and liner notes can also be added.
There’s even a tool that helps developers migrate their current soundtracks listed as DLC to the new app type once the update is applied. Users will automatically gain access to the new app type version of the files once the conversion is complete.
Valve plans “on launching these features in a wider way” on January 20, when it will also hold a sale.
