Download speeds on consoles are notoriously bad, especially if your internet isn’t lightning fast. A new feature now launched on Xbox One and Xbox Series X / S for Xbox Insiders aims to improve them, making it easier to suspend existing games while downloading new ones.
“Suspending in the queue will allow you to download at full speed while ensuring that your game remains recoverable (or quickly resumed on the X | S Series),” Xbox chief engineer, Eden Marie wrote on Twitter yesterday. She also shared a screenshot of what this new suspension functionality will look like when it reaches the rest of the platform’s users:
Currently, downloads are much slower when you have a game open because Xbox consoles reserve part of your connection capability for potential online functionality of whatever is playing. The new suspension option will allow you to put your current game on hold without opening a new one for faster download speeds.
It is a very granular change, but also a very welcome one, especially if, like me, you basically always have games paused in the background. At the moment, the PS4 does not have a similar option, and Switch makes you completely close a game to download anything. Meanwhile, in my S Series, I am constantly deleting old games and downloading new ones through Game Pass. Given the range of great games that are coming to the Netflix-style subscription service recently, it will certainly come in handy whenever it goes live for everyone.
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