Microsoft's Xbox Series X loads games much, much faster than the Xbox One, even if the game's code is not tailored for the next generation console.

According to Mike Rayner, technical director of The Coalition, which developed Gears 5, the Xbox Series X loads Gears 5 four times faster than the Xbox One. Such loading speeds, along with the raw performance of the Xbox Series X and PS5, will shake up the next generation of consoles.

"With Xbox Series X, right out of the gate, we've reduced load times by more than four times without any code changes," Rayner told Windows Central.

"With the new DirectStorage API and new hardware decompression, we can further improve I/O performance and reduce CPU overhead.

Basically, the work Microsoft has done on the hardware and software side of the Xbox Series X will result in much faster game load times.

While this may not seem like the most exciting part of the new console, faster loading times have a series of benefits. Not only will games start up faster and, in some cases, be able to jump between games in just a few seconds, but faster loading storage will allow for faster streaming of high-end graphic effects in large games, which will improve the console's perceived performance will improve.

While there are no games yet that take full advantage of the SATA SSD storage drive, the faster storage will help a lot when it comes to streaming the 4K graphics assets that the Xbox Series X is aiming for.

"CPU, GPU, and memory performance has improved dramatically with each successive generation. The Xbox Series X more than lives up to these expectations." As a game developer, one of the most exciting improvements that far exceeds my expectations is the massive I/O improvements in the Xbox Series X."

Gears 5 is already available on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC, but it is also a launch title for the Xbox Series X. This means that the performance improvements that SSDs bring to the next generation of consoles will be experienced by users, not by developers as a technology demo.

With the PS5 featuring even faster SSD storage, Sony developers will also benefit from the transition from the rotating disk hard drives of the current generation consoles to the cutting-edge SSDs of the next generation consoles.