As we all know, new games these days are starting to take up a lot of space on our storage drives. This is mainly due to the amount of content and the high-resolution textures found in them. Games such as Red Dead Redemption 2 have file sizes over 150 GB on PC, which is due to the massive size of the map, number of long cutscenes, and visual details of the game.
To combat these issues, Xbox Series X will be built with special hardware which allows you to save more storage space and cut down on installation times as well. Combining a hardware decompression technique with a really efficient SSD will help maintain the consistency in storage performance and the extra virtual memory can be utilized for faster load times.
“Hardware decompression is a dedicated hardware component introduced with Xbox Series X to allow games to consume as little space as possible on the SSD while eliminating all CPU overhead typically associated with run-time decompression,” Microsoft stated on their official Xbox website. “It reduces the software overhead of decompression when operating at full SSD performance from more than three CPU cores to zero – thereby freeing considerable CPU power for the game to spend on areas like better gameplay and improved framerates. Hardware decompression is one of the components of the Xbox Velocity Architecture.”
Microsoft will also adapt intelligent delivery for the Xbox Series X. This feature allows developers to have control over files to install the necessary pieces of each game first, which in exchange minimizes the amount of content that needs to be installed or downloaded to the SSD.
You can expect Xbox Series X to launch around November 2020, with more news to follow soon. With all the information we have on the Series X, it seems to be an amazing console and might actually take gaming to the next level this season.
So, what are your thoughts on Hardware decompression included in the Xbox Series X architecture? Do you think Microsoft has more features they have yet to reveal for the new console? Whatever your thoughts may be, let us know in the comments below.
