Kathy Hope, program manager for the Microsoft DirectX team, mentioned in a DirectX developer blog that the DirectStorage API (DirectStorage API, herefollowing referred to as DirectStorage) will be available on PCs starting today. This public SDK release allows developers to take advantage of the speed of modern storage devices, significantly reducing the loading times of PC games.
In September 2020, Microsoft announced that DirectStorage would be coming to Windows. After that, following collecting feedback through the developer preview, all partners can use the API to provide games.
To use the Direct Storage API, you need to refer to the Direct Storage page on the Microsoft website. NuGet repository with redistributable packages. A GitHub repo with samples and documentation, plus links to PIX for Windows.
Then, on March 22nd, GDC will introduce DirectStorage along with some tips and tricks to get you started. If it is not possible to watch live, a link will be provided following the 22nd.
In addition, in order to prepare a PC for Direct Storage games, recommended specifications are required. DirectStorage is compatible with Windows 10 devices, but Windows 11 comes with the latest storage optimizations built in. You can see the benefits in all kinds of storage devices. However, if you install the game on an NVMe SSD, you can maximize the IO performance to fully extract the benefits of Direct Storage.
Finally, Kathy Hope said, “This release of DirectStorage gives developers everything they need to transition to a new IO model for gaming, and we’re exploring different ways to offload work from the CPU. GPU decompression is the next part of the roadmap, the ability for developers to better control resources and utilize hardware. We will also continue to optimize, incorporate feedback and improve our existing runtime implementations.”
