Microsoft officially launched the DirectStorage API in March 2021, which allows the PC's NVMe SSD to bypass the CPU and memory and directly transfer data to the video memory, which can significantly reduce the game loading time. In October 2022, Microsoft launched DirectStorage 1.1, introducing the "asset decompression" function to support GPU decompression of resources. By April 2023, Microsoft brought DirectStorage 1.2, added a new API to query the path selected at runtime, fixed some bugs and optimized performance. Last July, Microsoft added a new API called "EnqueueRequests" through DirectStorage 1.3.
Now Microsoft has released a public preview version of DirectStorage 1.4, introducing a new feature called "Zstandard (Zstd for short)". As an option for Windows operating system game assets, this compression algorithm adopts an open standard and can improve the compression ratio, speed up loading, and achieve smoother transmission of game assets. In addition, Microsoft also brought an initial preview version of the Game Asset Condition Library (GACL).
Microsoft is working with major GPU vendors including AMD, Intel, Nvidia and Qualcomm to jointly develop Zstandard capabilities. In this version, Microsoft added Zstd support to the multi-layer decompression framework, covering CPU and GPU decompression functions. This allows developers to choose the best execution solution based on current workloads, while Microsoft's GPU partners work on future specific hardware optimizations for Zstd.
DirectStorage 1.4 also continues the work of EnqueueRequests in version 1.3 and adds global D3D12 CreatorID support. By specifying the CreatorID through DStorageSetConfiguration2, the D3D12 CreatorID can be associated with the internal D3D12 command queue managed by DirectStorage on a per-device basis. This mechanism allows D3D12 command queue grouping to accurately handle DirectStorage workloads, thereby improving predictability and optimizing GPU execution scheduling.
The game asset condition library is designed to be used with existing content processing pipelines, which can bring up to 50% Zstd compression ratio improvement for game assets, while maintaining low runtime decompression costs when used with DirectStorage. This preliminary preview version includes lossless and lossy conditional processing technology.