DirectStorage (which is a part of NVIDIA RTX IO) is all about improving loading times on PC for games and is similar to Xbox Velocity Architecture found in the Xbox Series X|S consoles. Basically it's all about leveraging fast SSD storage (NVMe) and letting all that data head straight to the GPU (bypassing the CPU) for improved processing. It's now available on PC as part of the latest DirectX API.

Faster load times, less pop-up and texture streaming, it's something that could be a game-changer. As per the official announcement, "This release of DirectStorage provides developers everything they need to move to a new model of IO for their games, and we’re working on even more ways to offload work from the CPU." With more updates to come in the future focusing on GPU decompression.

Available on Windows 10 and Windows 11 (Microsoft notes the latter is what the tech was designed primarily for) it's also something that will improve over time. In terms of in-game usage Square Enix's Forsaken will utilise the technology when it debuts later this year. As per the intro NVIDIA RTX IO will use the technology on compatible GeForce RTX GPUs, with a focus on data decompression to minimise game sizes. AMD will also leverage the tech across its Radeon line-up.