As we draw nearer to the launch of next-gen consoles, both Sony and Microsoft are ramping up the emphasis on the power and performance of their consoles.
While we already know that the Xbox Series X boasts some pretty impressive specs, Xbox has now revealed a new feature designed to ensure the console did not hold developers back from creating the best gaming experiences possible. This feature is known as Xbox Velocity Architecture.
Is this just another next-gen buzzword? Possibly, but it does give us even more insight into the power of the Series X described in this Xbox blog post as "the soul" of the Xbox Series X. Here's what we know.
What is Xbox Velocity Architecture?
At its base level, the Xbox Velocity Architecture comprises four major components. These are as follows:
- Custom NVME SSD: This 1TB custom SSD delivers 2.4GB/s of I/O (40x the input/output of the Xbox One). It it designed for consistent, sustained performance rather than just peak performance.
- Hardware Accelerated Decompression: This Xbox Series X will provide developers with the opportunity to compress assets and packages without the loss of quality or performance. This is done through the use of a proprietary algorithm designed to optimise texture data compression at an I/O performance rate 100x better than the current-gen of consoles.
- New DirectStorage API: The Xbox Series X will break from the traditional Standard File APIs used for the past 30 years, instead using its DirectStorage API to give developers more control over their I/O operations. What this means is that developers can take full advantage of the Series X's I/O performance to essentially eliminate all loading times.
- Sampler Feedback Streaming (SFS): This innovation will optimise game textures by reducing the amount of texture data required to be loaded into the GPU memory at a time. This will freeing up significantly more memory and I/O throughput to allow games to be richer, more immersive experiences.
Overall, Xbox Velocity Architecture is designed to advance console technology that previously constrained the ambition and ideas of talented developers who had to work around the limitations of the Xbox One's hard drive and I/O pipelines.
READ MORE: Xbox One trade-in for Xbox Series X: where can you trade in your old console?
What does Xbox Velocity Architecture do?
Aside from reducing loading speeds, the Xbox Velocity Architecture gives developers the opportunity to create more dynamic living worlds that were not able to be powered by current-gen technology.
Much of what this technology can do is in the hands of developers, but Jason Ronald, Director of Program Management, has shared one innovation that will enhance your gameplay experience on the Series X.
According to Ronald, Xbox Velocity Architecture will allow for a 'Quick Resume' feature that will allow you to "instantly resume where you left off across multiple games" rather than just the one active application.
READ MORE: Quick Resume could be Xbox Series X’s killer feature
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