Microsoft is rolling out DirectStorage 1.4 with a focus on accelerating game asset streaming by modernizing how data moves from storage to the GPU. DirectStorage was originally built into DirectX 12 to tap into the speed of NVMe SSDs, and its development has removed the CPU as the middle-man in the process of streaming assets from storage to the GPU. Traditionally, this has been done over CPU, causing delays and latencies across teh stack, so the shift enables powerful consumer GPUs to receive data fast enough to keep pace with demanding visuals.
The new release centers on a compression and decompression technology called Zstandard (Zstd), which should improve game loading times and bring much faster game asset streaming than what was previously used. By integrating Zstd directly into the DirectStorage pipeline, Microsoft is aiming to reduce both the time it takes to pull assets from storage and the overhead involved in preparing those assets for the GPU, which in turn targets shorter loading screens and fewer in-game hitches.
To push Zstd even further, Microsoft has developed the Game Asset Conditioning Library (GACL), a companion tool that developers run on their assets before a game ships. The idea is that instead of simply compressing textures, GACL first conditions them to be more compressible, allowing Zstd to squeeze files down by up to 50% more than it otherwise could. Shuffling rearranges data inside texture files so repeating patterns cluster together, giving Zstd more to latch onto. Block-Level Entropy Reduction (BLER) and Component-Level Entropy Reduction (CLER) then reduce texture complexity at the block and color-channel level, using perceptual quality as a guide so any changes remain invisible to the player. CLER takes this a step further by incorporating machine learning to identify exactly where that reduction can be applied without anyone noticing.
