Xbox Series X Gets Major Advantage Over PS5 With New Epic Feature

So far, it’s pretty clear Xbox Series X is winning the next-gen console war against PlayStation 5.

While there aren’t many differences between the two consoles if recent reports about their technical specs are to be believed, Microsoft is winning in the PR department. Case in point: the tech giant recently revealed the Smart Delivery feature which will allow players to buy a game on Xbox One and upgrade it to its Xbox Series X version for free.

Now, the Xbox is pulling ahead of PlayStation with another new feature that could very well crush the competition.

In a recent interview with Gamespot, Xbox director of program management Jason Ronald revealed that they are working to allow Xbox Series X to use its internal SSD efficiently through hardware compression technology.

According to Ronald, this system will allow games to “consume as little space as possible on the SSD while eliminating all CPU overhead typically associated with run-time decompression."

It is common in games today to reach 100 gigabytes in size, with games like “Halo 5: Guardians” and “Gears of War” easily topping the mark. That being said, a feature that will allow players to decrease the size of games and reduce date consumption is undoubtedly a welcome development.

Ronald went on to discuss how Microsoft is planning to achieve such an incredible feat, highlighting its BCPack texture compressor.

"This includes BCPack, which is designed specifically for compressing texture data that often is one of the largest contributors to overall game size… to help compress the actual size of the asset,” the Xbox exec furthered.

Additionally, they also plan to implement a system that will allow players to only download the parts of the game they need. As an example, Ronald noted that players don’t need to download audio files for other languages if they are on an English console, thereby reducing file size.

Admittedly, this feature won’t stop the console’s storage from filling up, especially if gamers play major titles with massive file sizes. However, it will at least help maximize the use of its internal SSD.

As for developers who might be concerned about the size of their games, Ronald noted that there is no pressure on them to make their titles smaller.

"We don't want to arbitrarily constrain our developers in the worlds that they want to create, but at the same time to gamers make it very clear, they don't want to download 300GB games,” Ronald concluded.

If Microsoft is able to execute what they envision for the killer feature, it will certainly give them a massive advantage over PS5. It remains to be seen what Sony has in response to the competition, but it sure looks like Microsoft is leading.

Xbox Series X is slated to be released this Holiday 2020.