One of the biggest annoyances for Xbox One Gamers is the wait time. As Xbox has moved towards digital games, the sizes have made it impossible to start playing the game quickly compared to the games installed from the Disc. Microsoft’s first attempt was the Ready to Start option. It allowed games to start playing games to an extent while the game downloaded in the background. That didn’t work well. Microsoft then introduced FastStart games. In this post, I talk about Xbox One FastStart, and how it works with the games.
How does Xbox One FastStart work?
When games are compiled, not all data is set to deliver you like a linear progression through the game. It downloads based on multiple factors. With FastStart, Microsoft ii changing it. It’s a patented technology that downloads games based on your game progress. I would like to call it True Ready to Start.
It finds out which parts of the game you need next and starts downloading it as you progress through the game. This means FastStart identifies which files are needed to begin playing and prioritizes the download of those files first.
This reduces waiting time. It would feel almost like playing it on the servers, with local speed. There are two limitations. First, you need to have a minimum of 20 Mbps download speed, and secondly, the game should support it. The portfolio will take time to expand.
Which titles will be FastStart-enabled?
For now, FastStart will be enabled for a few games available in the Xbox Game Pass catalog. Also, it will be available for English Language only. This will make sure to get the benefits of FastStart out to maximum gamers in a short time. As of now, the company has no official list of games, but they will be listed here. However, The Flame in the Flood, is one of the first games to support FastStart on Xbox One.
How much quicker are start times with FastStart?
According to the Xbox Team, this is twice as fast as before, on average. In short, if you had to wait for an hour to start playing, you can start playing it in half of that time now. However, the real deal is that you can start playing almost instantly once the basic files are downloaded. The better your download speed is, the better advantage of FastStart while minimizing the possibility of experiencing gameplay interruptions.
That said, if your connection isn’t stable and your speed falls below the minimum threshold, you will receive a warning. The notification will explain the problem and may pause the game until the download completes.
Read: Change Themes based on Sunrise & Sunset on Xbox One
FastStart vs Ready to Start
Ready to Start was dependent on Game developers, and there were no set rules to follow. Some game developers allowed to launch the game, but to play you had to wait for the download to complete. However, with FastStart, Microsoft is in control. It will use some smart inputs which they call it “crowdsourced data ” to figure out which file is needed next.
The crowdsourced part is interesting. If my guess is correct, it is some sort of AI that takes input from users involved in beta testing or uses input from game companies to deliver updates the way users expect.
