PS5 and Xbox Series X’s custom SSDs (November 2020) eliminated loading screens, enabled instant fast travel, transformed game design. Spider-Man fast travel took 2 seconds (vs 15+ seconds PS4), Ratchet & Clank portals loaded entire worlds instantly, fundamentally changing player expectations.
Technical Revolution
PS5 SSD: 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth, custom I/O complex, Kraken compression = 8-9GB/s effective. Sony mandated NVMe Gen4 SSDs for expansion (Samsung 980 Pro, WD_Black SN850).
Xbox Series X/S: 2.4GB/s (expandable via proprietary Seagate cards), DirectStorage API, Xbox Velocity Architecture.
Game Design Impact
Instant Fast Travel: Spider-Man, Horizon Forbidden West, Returnal—map to destination in 1-3 seconds
No Elevators/Corridors: God of War Ragnarök, Ratchet & Clank eliminated fake loading screens (slow walks, elevator rides)
Dimension Rifts: Ratchet & Clank’s instant world-swapping impossible on HDDs
Asset Streaming: Higher quality textures loaded on-demand without stuttering
PC Adoption
DirectStorage API (2022) enabled PC games to leverage NVMe SSDs. Forspoken (2023) first major implementation. Requirements shifted—games started requiring SSDs minimum, HDDs obsolete for modern titles.
Key hashtags: #SSD #PS5 #XboxSeriesX #LoadingTimes
Sources:
- Sony PS5 SSD specs (Mark Cerny Road to PS5, March 2020)
- Digital Foundry load time comparisons (Spider-Man 2s vs 15s)
- DirectStorage API launch (Microsoft, March 2022)