Microsoft promises faster PC game load times with DirectStorage release
Enlarge / You'll need an NVMe SSD to use DirectStorage on Windows. (credit: Getty Images)
PC games can now use DirectStorage, a DirectX 12 Ultimate API that Microsoft announced in 2020. The feature is supposed to bring faster loading times and improved textures and draw distances.
The Xbox Series X/S already uses DirectStorage, and in June, Microsoft said it would bring the feature to Windows 11. The storage acceleration API should improve gameplay by bringing instant asset introduction and enabling more vivid virtual landscapes. It works by sending data directly from an NVMe SSD to the graphics card, skipping the CPU and leveraging PCIe 3.0 or PCIe 4.0 speeds, depending on the system.
In a developer blog post today, Microsoft said it is moving DirectStorage out of developer preview and making it available via a public SDK.