EA has been granted a patent for a technology that allows games to be streamed while downloading in the background.

The patent was approved on February 16 and can be found on the US Patent and Trademark Office website, along with a funky diagram explaining how it works (thanks, GameRant).

The technology, described as a "dynamic video game client," attempts to check whether the game being launched has been downloaded to the user's PC. If not, it will stream the game on request while downloading the game in the background. Once the game is downloaded, the client seamlessly transitions from the streamed version to the locally downloaded version. [EA says it is trying to bridge the "time-consuming" installation process, which can take hours depending on the size of some recent games (looking at you Warzone). It's a bit of a problem if you want to jump into a game with your buddies and it's not installed.

However, it's not perfect. Streaming games is still relatively uncommon and requires a large amount of resources at both ends. Many Internet connections are still inadequate for streaming games with consistent quality.

There are already many similar technologies: World of Warcraft's launcher has a critical download data stage, and although it is less stable, it is possible to play the game before installation; World of Warcraft's launcher has a critical stages of download data, and although less stable, it allows you to play the game before installing it.

However, these usually involve a small amount of initial downloading, which EA's patent attempts to eliminate entirely. This is very convenient and means that when you want to go back to a game you have uninstalled for a long time, you will not have to wait hours to play it.