Xbox One Digital Games Playable During Installation
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The feature parity between next-gen consoles continues.
Microsoft has revealed that Xbox One digital games will be playable during installation.
In a statement to Engadget, Microsoft said, "Consumers will be able to sign on to any Xbox One console and have access to all their digital games. Once the required data – a fraction of the entire game – is on their hard drive, they can jump into the action while the rest of the game finishes downloading in the background."
Disc-based Xbox One games, you may recall, can be accessed instantly when installed, so long as the game is in the console.
Sony recently elaborated on a similar feature for PlayStation 4, saying, "Chunks [of a game] are automatically copied to the hard drive in the background...after the first few minutes your game can rely on having faster read speeds from the hard drive, which provides a better experience for players. And this is a completely background process for the player. They don’t have to wait for anything to install before playing the game. The game will launch as soon as the disc has been put in the drive."
We've asked Microsoft to clarify whether disc-based installations will allow players immediate access similar to the digital initiative explained today.