Microsoft finally released the DirectStorage API to game developers. With this step, a great feature of Xbox Series X is also coming to PC platform.
DirectStorage aims to bring faster loading times thanks to optimized NVMe SSD accesses. Previously, a game was able to run only a single in/out access at any given time. This was not an issue back in the days of hard drives, but SSDs that can transfer gigabytes per second with hundreds of thousands of in out operations per second (IOPS) needed a better method to operate. So DirectStorage comes in at this point.
DirectStorage simply allows multiple I/O operations concurrently. It allows assets to be transferred directly to the GPU, so the entire operation becomes more efficient.
Most game assets are kept in a compressed state. This means that the CPU needs to be accessed before loading the asset. In the future, DirectStorage will provide support for GPU file compression and decompression tasks. Thanks to its serious processing power and memory bandwidth, a GPU is naturally suited for this task. In that regard, DirectStorage should lead to a faster processing of games with better details.
DirectStorage will be made available to users of Windows 10 and Windows 11. The company will talk more about DirectStorage at the Game Developers Conference on March 22.
