Xbox Series X may allow suspend and resume for multiple games at once

Microsoft's next-gen console could let you swap games at any time without losing your progress.

Derek Strickland

Senior Gaming Editor

Published Dec 12, 2019 10:32 PM CST
Updated Nov 3, 2020 11:45 AM CST

7 minutes read time

Microsoft's new next-gen Xbox Series X console (formerly Project Scarlett) may let you switch between multiple games at once without losing your session.

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Suspend and resume is one of the best features on current-gen systems, and lets you swap between a game and an app on-the-fly. But what if it was taken to the next level? What if you could swap between multiple games without losing your playtime? You'd essentially be creating virtual save states for your games. That could be possible with the Xbox Series X and it's all thanks to its new higher-end NVMe SSD tech.

In a recent interview with Gamespot, Xbox exec Jason Ronald discussed how this lofty goal might happen with the Xbox Series X.

"Today, we have the capability of instantly resuming the last game that you were playing. Why can't you do that for multiple games? Many players choose to play multiple games at the same time, being able to instantly jump right back where I was, those are things that we can do with the platform level to make the gaming experience better. It's really about ensuring there's less waiting and more time playing because that's ultimately what we all want to do with a with the consoles and with the services that we have."

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Up until now Microsoft has touted some pretty interesting things about the Xbox Series X's NVMe SSD. The storage has lots of potential to completely invigorate next-gen gaming, from launching games instantly to giving devs lots of extra horsepower via highly synergized hardware.

"Our next-generation SSD will virtually eliminate load times and bring players into their gaming worlds faster than ever before," reads the Xbox Series X's announcement.

Reports say the SSD will use proprietary tech, possibly some sort of 3D XPoint memory in a cache acceleration solution. Microsoft says they can use the NVMe SSD as a VRAM buffer, strongly hinting some sort of cache magic is under the Series X's chassis.

The idea is cache tech would transmit data directly to the CPU for processing rather than have to rely on the storage itself. That way the most important data is readily available.

Important data like, say, your suspended game sessions.

This new tidbit adds an extra layer to the Xbox Series X's possible capabilities and could usher in a new era of accessibility and convenience for gaming. Whether or not it actually comes to fruition remains to be seen.