Steam Gets SILK, Prepares for Portal 2 Launch

Steam has continued its quick paced campaign of Steam improvement, saying that it has now implemented a new audio codec, called SILK, which was initially created for use in Voice over Internet Protocol services like Skype.

The SILK protocol will be use in all titles on Steam that are using the voice API integrated into the Steamworks suite and Valve is saying that both quality of communication and performance of the games are improved by its use.

The official statement coming from Valve says, “As of today's Steam client update, voice chat using SILK is available to all users of Steam,” adding, “voice chat connectivity and reliability have also been improved with this release.”

The company also reads, “Steam Voice used to require 15 kbps of bandwidth, whereas SILK is a dynamic bit rate protocol which varies in its use of bandwidth between 8 and 30 kbps, depending on the range of data in the voice signal and current network conditions.”

Portal 2, the puzzle-based action game that Valve is planning to launch in April, will use the updated voice chat system in order to allow gamers to engage in well-coordinated cooperative sessions.

The game will allow players to chat across platforms on the PlayStation 3 and on the PC, one of the first titles to do this.

Save games created on the PS3 can also be stored in the cloud, the first time that the Steam feature is used outside of the PC.

A recent rumor coming from a Team Fortress 2 player that visited the Valve offices says that Gabe Newell also talked about a video recording tool that will be added to Steam and will allow gamers to shoot video from their games and share it with friends.

The company is apparently also thinking about porting Steam to the iPhone and the Android platforms.