Many know the PS5 for its extremely short loading times. Now the first game has shown how short loading times can be on the gaming PC. This will surely please all of you who are frustrated by long loading times.
If you already have a PS5 or Xbox and can play on the next-gen console, you have certainly noticed the extremely short loading times in many games. The loading times of the PS5 are even so short that a common feature no longer works.
But on the computer, you initially don’t have any direct advantage from this technical progress of the PS5 and Xbox Series X. But that is supposed to change now, as some developers have shown in their latest game. Here, the loading times are somewhere between 2 and 4 seconds.
First game uses new technology of next-gen consoles on PC
What kind of game is it? Forspoken is a fantasy action role-playing game by Luminos Productions and is set to be released on October 11, 2022, for PC and PS5. The developers recently explained that their game supports Microsoft’s Direct Storage API (via videocardz.com). And it is this API that ensures the game loads significantly faster. You can watch the official video from the developers here:
What technology is involved? It’s about “Direct Storage.” This is a special technology where certain tasks are handled by the graphics card instead of the processor.
The graphics card compresses and decompresses the data from the mass storage and can use the data directly without the need for the processor. This can significantly reduce loading times by limiting certain interfaces or CPU usage. The Xbox Series X is already using this technology, and Microsoft demonstrated how fast games can load on the Xbox Series X compared to the Xbox One.
Specifically: Your games load significantly faster – both at startup and in cutscenes and similar, as these can be calculated (rendered) much faster. Moreover, the processor will not be as heavily burdened.
Forspoken shows the potential of Direct Storage
What is exactly the advantage? The speed of the SSD in data transfer is influenced by the CPU. This also means that if your CPU is not fast enough, your performance will be limited. In technical jargon, this is called a “Bottleneck”.
The advantage of Direct Storage is that even if you have a slow processor (CPU), the CPU no longer limits the performance of your SSD. In “Forspoken,” the difference or improvement in loading times compared to without “Direct Storage” is between 15 and 30% (via Theverge.com). In numbers, we are talking about 0.5 to 0.7 seconds.
This also shows how much potential there still is in “Direct Storage” and how PC games could benefit from it.
Who can use the technology? Theoretically, DirectStorage can be used by any user, as Microsoft has integrated the technology into DirectX. Microsoft even stated that you can also use the best gaming feature with Windows 10 and that Direct Storage will not only be available for Windows 11.
However, for you to actually use it, game developers also need to implement the technology in their games. Microsoft even wrote in a detailed blog post:
As a game developer, you only need to implement DirectStorage once in your engine, and all applicable advantages will be automatically applied and scaled accordingly for the players.
Microsoft, via devblogs.microsoft.com
While Direct Storage will also be available on Windows 10, you can only use some features with Windows 11. In addition to the new Start menu and many design adjustments, there are also new things that especially gamers can look forward to.
You can read directly on MeinMMO what these features and improvements are. Here we explain the best features of Windows 11 for gamers.
