DirectStorage is one of the three major new PC gaming features in Windows 11, but despite calling it OS-only when the upcoming OS was announced, Microsoft has now confirmed that it will also be supported in Windows 10.

In an article by Sarah Bond about the new OS being "the best Windows ever for gaming," Microsoft's vice president of gaming stated that DirectStorage is "only available in Windows 11. However, a new DirectX Developer Blog post announces the availability of a developer preview of the DirectStorage API, in which Hassan Uraizee explains that the SDK is compatible with Windows 10 from version 1909 onwards . [Microsoft is] committed to ensuring that game developers get as many gamers as possible when adopting the new API," Uraizee wrote. So games built using the DirectStorage SDK will be compatible with Windows 10 version 1909 or later, just as they are with the DirectX 12 Agility SDK." [DirectStorage features take advantage of the latest storage hardware in gaming PCs to streamline the way game data is handled; by using NVMe SSDs, the DirectStorage API can reduce game load times and support the huge dream It aims to support open-world games and ensure that texture data and other data is streamed into the world far beyond your field of vision, rather than appearing right in front of you.

It hopes to lower CPU utilization, primarily by bypassing the processor and loading assets onto the graphics card quickly, improving system performance in the process.

Uraizee itemizes the features of DirectStorage as follows:

This is a really exciting technology and one that is being built into the new Xbox Series X/S consoles and those upgrading to Windows 11 I see no reason why it should be enclosed only for those who upgrade to Windows 11. After all, the new OS started out as a major feature update to Windows 10, so it seems purely arbitrary to put up a barrier.

However, while wider compatibility should mean that more gamers will have access to the feature, a wider user base should also encourage developers and publishers to ensure that DirectStorage is considered in new and existing projects.

"This means that all games built with DirectStorage will benefit from the new programming model and GPU decompression technology in Windows 10 version 1909 and later. "Additionally, since Windows 11 was built with DirectStorage in mind, games running on Windows 11 will further benefit from the new storage stack optimizations.

However, developers only need to implement the new features once in their games, and since the SDK itself controls which aspects of DirectStorage are available on the system, developers and publishers do not need to do anything to get DirectStorage to work properly in their setups.

Enabling DirectStorage on a game does not prevent those who are still hard drive bound from accessing a particular title. Uraizee concludes, "Games with DirectStorage enabled will work as they always have, even on PCs with older storage hardware (such as HDDs)."