Lamenting a quick mobile data consumption, a disgruntled gamer mentions that a Steam sticker consumed an entire month's worth of mobile data within five minutes.
High Data Usage in Steam Chat: A Costly Issue for Mobile Users
The cost of mobile data can vary significantly across different countries, with some nations offering rates that are a tenth of what users in the United States (or New Zealand) pay. However, in the case of Spacebuggles, a New Zealand resident on a 2degrees NZ$13 monthly prepay plan, mobile data usage proved to be a costly issue, all thanks to Steam Chat.
Spacebuggles, a Redditor and Steam gamer, consumed an astonishing 700 MB of mobile data in just five minutes while trying to send a sticker in Steam Chat, exceeding their monthly mobile data limit of 600 MB. The high data usage stems from the size and frame rate of these animated stickers, which are essentially small videos that require continuous data streaming.
In many countries, mobile data rates are expensive, making unintended high data usage very costly. For instance, Saint Helena, the Falkland Islands, and Zimbabwe were paying over $40 per GB as recently as 2023. On the other hand, Israel, Italy, and Fiji are the best places for mobile data consumers, with prices under 10 cents per GB.
The excessive data usage in Spacebuggles' case may not be due to autoplaying game showcase videos on Steam pages. Instead, it appears that Steam Chat is the culprit. Steam Chat seems to consume a large amount of data, potentially leading to unexpected costs for users with limited mobile data plans.
One of the reasons for this high data consumption is the lack of efficient caching for stickers in Steam Chat. Animated stickers in Steam Chat are data-intensive and potentially costly because they primarily use animated .GIF or .PNG formats that are not cached locally. Instead, these stickers are downloaded from Steam servers every time they are viewed or sent in real-time within the chat.
Additionally, the server-side hosting of these stickers and the real-time animation requiring multiple frames to be loaded for smooth playback contribute to high data consumption.
The average price per gigabyte of data can be a precious and scarce commodity, depending on where you live. Therefore, it is essential for users to be aware of the data-intensive nature of animated stickers in Steam Chat, especially in regions with costly mobile data rates or restrictive data plans.
This issue has drawn attention on forums like Reddit and coverage by gaming and tech media, emphasizing the unexpected high bandwidth consumption from seemingly simple chat stickers. Users are advised to exercise caution when using animated stickers, especially on mobile devices, to avoid costly data overages.
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[1] Reddit: r/NewZealand [2] Tom's Hardware: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/steam-animated-stickers-high-data-usage,59623.html [3] cable.co.uk: https://www.cable.co.uk/mobile/billmonitor/prices/
Consuming excessive data can lead to unexpected costs for users, like Spacebuggles in New Zealand, who were limited to a 600 MB plan. The primary source of high data usage for Spacebuggles was Steam Chat, with its animated stickers that aren't cached locally and require continuous data streaming.
In many countries, mobile data rates are expensive, and data-intensive features like animated stickers in Steam Chat can be costly for users, especially when living in regions with costly mobile data rates or restrictive data plans.
