The Xbox One received a new system update going live for all users today, and offers a faster way to start playing select titles while still downloading in the background.
“FastStart,” a feature announced during Microsoft’s E3 2018 press conference last month, allows players to get into gameplay quicker after a small section of a game has been downloaded by “identifying which files are needed to begin playing and prioritizes the download of those files,” according to Microsoft. This is different than the “Ready to Start” feature that launched with the console, which also allowed players to boot up a game during the installation. In the FastStart FAQ, Microsoft said the original feature was publisher-based and was not consistent from game to game, usually leading to a menu instead of gameplay.
Microsoft said users should expect FastStart-enabled games to download in half the time on average, such as an hour-long download taking a half our instead, though a 20Mbps download speed is required to take advantage of the feature. The initial list of supported games include 17 games for Xbox One, four on the original Xbox, and three for Xbox 360. The full list is below, but only works for English language versions of the titles.
Xbox One
- Arcade Game Series: Pac-Man
- Devil May Cry HD Collection
- Don Bradman Cricket 17
- Don’t Starve Together: Console Edition
- Game of Thrones – Episode 1: Iron from Ice
- Magic Duels
- Minecraft: Story Mode – Season Two – Episode 1
- Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm
- Neverwinter
- Pac-Man Championship Edition 2
- Rivals of Aether
- ScreamRide
- Tales from the Borderlands – Episode 1: Zer0 Sum
- The Flame in the Flood
- The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season
- Tropico 5 – Penultimate Edition
- Ys Origin
Xbox 360
- Dead Space 2
- Toy Story 3
- Viva Piñata
Xbox
- Destroy All Humans!
- Fuzion Frenzy
- Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
- Sid Meier’s Pirates!
The system update contains other features such as being able to organize games and apps by groups and searching for content faster by pressing the Y button anywhere in the dashboard. Micorsoft’s streaming service Mixer also received improvements towards video quality and the Share Controller option.
