Steam depot
Also called: Depot, Depots, Depot ID, SteamPipe depot
A Steam depot is a group of game files delivered together, with its own Depot ID. Builds are made of depots, split by OS, language or DLC.
A Steam depot is a logical grouping of files that Steam delivers to a player as one group, identified by a Depot ID (Steamworks documentation, "Depots", partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/application/depots, accessed 11 Nov 2026). A game can have one depot or several, for example one for shared files, one for Windows binaries and one per language.
When a studio uploads a build through SteamPipe, each depot gets a manifest, a list of every file with its size and hash, and the whole upload gets one build ID. SteamPipe splits files into chunks of about 1 MB, so a patch only downloads the chunks that changed (Steamworks, "Uploading to Steam", accessed 11 Nov 2026). SteamDB describes depots, manifests and build IDs the same way (steamdb.info/faq, accessed 11 Nov 2026).
Depots cause a familiar class of launch bugs. A depot missing from the package means players do not own it, and the game may not start. A depot limited to the wrong OS or language means some players download incomplete files. QA catches this by installing the release candidate through the Steam client on a clean account, never by copying a local folder.
Updated · Written by JJ, founder of Jumbo Jelly.
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Related terms
- Build ID
A Steam build ID is the global number Steam assigns to each uploaded build of a game, used to tell builds apart and to set one live on a branch.
- Steam beta branch
A Steam beta branch is a separate build of a game that players opt into from the game's properties, often locked with a password for testers.
- Release candidate
A release candidate (RC) is a build that will ship unless testing finds a serious bug. A fix makes a new candidate: RC1, RC2 and so on.
- Steam Direct
Steam Direct is Valve's sign-up path for publishing on Steam, with a $100 fee per game that is paid back once the game earns $1,000.