The Forspoken delay also means we probably won’t get to test Microsoft’s super-fast DirectStorage tech this year
What happens to DirectStorage now its poster child has been delayed until next year?
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Well, it seems like the developers of Forspoken spoke too soon about its release date. Forspoken has been delayed toJanuary, which means we’re waiting longer to seeDirectStoragein action on Windows 11 PCs.
DirectStorage is Microsoft’s name for the Windows version of the software interface it uses to rapidly transfer data on Xbox Series S/X consoles, and it’s supposed to dramatically decrease loading times for Windows games running off an NVMe SSD. Forspoken was the first game to show the benefits of DirectStorage publicly running on Windows 11.
Developer Luminous Productions says that DirectStorage is hitting throughputs of 5,000MB/s and higher on NVMe M.2 SSDs, with PCIe 4.0 drives being able to reach as high as 7,000MB/s. This reduces load times for Forspoken from an average of 10 seconds to just one second. If you’re thinking about upgrading, there will most certainly be some NVMe SSD’s on sale thisAmazon Prime Day.
DirectStorage makes NVMe SSDs faster and more efficient by allowing multiple I/O operations concurrently. According to Microsoft, it also reducesCPU overhead by 20 to 40%on Windows 11. A future update will unburden the CPU even further, Microsoft says.
DirectStorage has been available for developers since March, but Forspoken is the first game we know of that supports it. Now that it’s been pushed back, it’s unclear if we’ll see DirectStorage in any PC games this year.
In the meantime, you cansee if your PC is DirectStorage-readyby registeringhere, and downloading the Xbox Insider Hub from the Windows Store.
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Jorge is a hardware writer from the enchanted lands of New Jersey. When he’s not filling the office with the smell of Pop-Tarts, he’s reviewing all sorts of gaming hardware, from laptops with the latest mobile GPUs to gaming chairs with built-in back massagers. He’s been covering games and tech for over ten years and has written for Dualshockers, WCCFtech, Tom’s Guide, and a bunch of other places on the world wide web.
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