Given that the auto-updates seems to generate problems in its own right (see the post immediately preceding this one), and that patches also tend to break saves and mods, one could argue that these features represent as much of a burden on tech support as they do an asset. The nearly idiot-proof self-install through Steam helps as well. I would suspect that automatic updates and ensuring all your customers are patched to the latest version is a huge draw for companies as it would (normally) cut down drastically on tech support.
