One of the disadvantages of next-gen gaming is the increase in file sizes that mean downloading PS5 and Xbox Series S/X games can take an age, if you’re not on a lighting-fast broadband connection.
Knowing this, Microsoft has made a number of changes in recent times, namely the ability to start playing a game while it downloads. Now the company has added a further tweak in a new dashboard update that’ll help gamers get to their new games more quickly.
In the April update Microsoft has added the ability to suspend a game running on the console to ensure that valuable bandwidth is dedicated to the latest game update. Gamers are informed “You’ve got a game running. Suspend kit to help improve download speeds.” They can then resume the action once the download is complete.
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In a post on the Xbox Wire blog, Jason Ronald, Partner Director of Program Management, Xbox explains: “Download your games as quickly as possible with the new suspend game feature in My games & apps. Today, the queue warns you when your active game is slowing download speeds. Now you’ll have the option to suspend your active game in order to free up bandwidth and get the most efficient download speeds. Then, with Quick Resume, you can jump right back into your game whenever you want to start playing again.”
Elsewhere, Microsoft is announced its bringing monthly leaderboards to the Xbox app for iOS and Android, enabling gamers to see how they’re doing against their pals on a regular basis.
Game Pass also gets a boost with Play With Friends now an easy to access option when playing any game on Game Pass. “You can either jump right into a joinable multiplayer session or begin installing the games your friends are currently playing,” Ronald adds.
Elsewhere, there’s a couple of tweaks to game recommendations and collections in Game Pass, which will be based on your gameplay history. You’ll see “because you played” recommendations as you would on Netflix, for example.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
