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The first Xbox Series X reactions are here. A handful of outlets have been given working consoles by Microsoft ahead of the console's full release in November. At the moment, previews are limited to discussions around certain features and a collection of backwards-compatible games, but there's one thing almost all of these previews have in common: the Xbox Series X is very, very fast.
According to Gamespot, load times on the Xbox Series X are down "70-80%" on the Xbox One X. Red Dead Redemption 2, for example, took two minutes and eight seconds to boot up on current-gen hardware, but that was down to less than 40 seconds on the new console. Final Fantasy XV took 71 seconds on the One X, but just 13 seconds on its successor, a figure matched by Venturebeat.
Similar results were posted by The Verge, who said that loading up Sea of Thieves and Warframe took less than 30 seconds on the Series X, but more than 80 seconds on the older console. According to IGN, tests across Halo 5, Grand Theft Auto 4, and Fallout 4 all "yielded a notable" advantage, and Engadget stated that Control levels could load in less than 10 seconds.
Adding to that speed is Quick Resume. Microsoft has previously explained the system, which allows you to drop in and out of games, picking up exactly where you left off without having to go through loading screens. It's still unclear from multiple previews exactly how powerful the system is - Cnet was able to run four games simultaneously, while The Verge reached five games. Gamespot appeared to experience Quick Resume at its best, maintaining six games, although the first game in the queue crashed when they attempted to add a seventh.
It's worth noting that these are details for games that haven't been specifically built for the Series X, and that games developed with the console's SSD in mind are likely to be significantly faster. Elsewhere, expect more Xbox Series X information in the weeks leading up to its release, as more games are made available.
If all that wasn't enough, here's everything you need to know about the Xbox Series X.
