I don't think much about updating my games. Most of the games I play are on Steam, and since I never turn off my PC, Steam is free to keep all my games up-to-date while I bliss out. But for those who subscribe to the traditional on/off schedule, it's not so simple, and overdue updates may mean an unexpected wait before you can dive into the one you've been wanting to play.

The proliferation of non-Steam launchers further complicates matters. I run Steam all the time, while others, such as Origin and Uplay, only launch when I want to play a particular game. This leads to more unexpected updates and more wait times as games suck up weeks worth of updates at a time. It's not a major problem that millions of gamers have to worry about every day, but when it happens, it's a real nuisance.

PowerNap is a new utility that aims to reduce the hassle by greatly simplifying the process of making sure all updates happen simultaneously in all launchers. It launches all installed launchers, initiates the updates, and does not put the PC to sleep until all updates are complete. Once all are complete, it will either shut down or put the PC to sleep, depending on your selections. [PowerNap is designed to start all libraries before you go to bed, so launchers that have not been used for two weeks will also be updated. There is also an option to put the display to sleep during PowerNap to maximize power efficiency. This is quite similar to how game consoles and cell phones update their apps at night."

The first time you launch PowerNap, you need to browse to each launcher executable installed on your PC; it's not complicated as long as you have a basic knowledge of Windows Explorer and where to install programs, but it's the most elegant UI I've ever encountered It is certainly not the most elegant UI I have encountered. It also needs to be configured to enable automatic game updates when launching other launchers.

Additionally, you may want (or need) to change the minimum download speed or disk write speed required to keep your PC from sleeping, especially if your Internet connection is slow or drops easily. Once everything is set up, use PowerNap's drop-down menu to set your PC to sleep or shut down once the process is complete, then click the big blue "Update Game" button.

At this point you will notice that PowerNap does not fully automate the update process. In particular, because Steam schedules game updates in its own way, PowerNap launches Steam but does not actually force the update to begin. (PowerNap will warn you to do this when it starts the update process.) Steam is the only launcher that consistently delays updates in this way, which Danziger believes is done to prevent servers from blowing up every time a big game gets a net patch.

"Right now, the only way around this is to quickly make sure everything is queued before putting the monitor to sleep."

"We completely understand that this is a bit disappointing, but once you get used to manually queuing steam updates before putting your display to sleep, it becomes second nature.

He also expressed the hope, perhaps unrealistic but dare I dream, that Valve might one day provide a simple API that would allow developers to override Steam's built-in scheduling. We'd like to grow our user base a bit more before we ask for such a change," Danziger said.

This is not a magical app, but a quick and dirty utility for the savvy PC gamer out there who uses multiple launchers but does not want to run them all full-time. For such a niche application, it works great: once each launcher is properly configured, launch the application, press the button, and force whatever Steam updates are queued up to run. When you return the next morning, everything on your PC should be up-to-date and ready to go, barring any unforeseen Internet issues.

PowerNap is currently in beta testing and will be available on Steam on March 12.