Microsoft is planning a quiet revolution in the way that games are streamed and installed onto Xbox One and Xbox One X. The new system - known internally as Intelligent Delivery - aims to save hard drive space and reduce download times by allowing users to only download the assets they'll actually need, as opposed to the complete game package. The platform holder has already dropped some hints about this functionality, confirming that Xbox One users won't need to download X's 4K assets, but the execution goes beyond that, being flexible enough even to support multi-disc releases - not currently supported on Xbox One.
Based on documentation seen by Digital Foundry, Intelligent Delivery was initially revealed to game-makers at Microsoft's XFest developer event earlier this year, and its execution relies upon developers adapting the way they master their titles. Essentially, the concept involves splitting game content into 'chunks' of data and then adding tags to them. Multiple tags can be attached to a chunk, and they can be device-specific or language-specific, for example. In the case of the latter, this means that game audio or cutscenes in non-relevant languages don't need to be downloaded - Intelligent Delivery could, in theory, install just the assets applicable to your region, with other languages an optional 'on demand' download, accessible via the Xbox One dash.
In terms of the actual impact language-specific installs will have, the space saved on the hard drive - not to mention the download time - will vary on a game by game basis. However, according to Microsoft, language-specific chunks have particular relevance to sports titles, where the audio assets often take up the majority of a game's full install size. The platform holder describes the potential savings here as 'massive'.
In terms of device-specific content, Intelligent Delivery allows developers to partition off artwork for either Xbox One or the X, with the console only delivering the assets that are needed for the hardware in question. The amount of space saved here is not insignificant - as an example, Far Cry Primal's HD texture pack on PC is an optional 6GB download. For users upgrading from Xbox One to X, Intelligent Delivery takes care of the user at the system level. For example, if you have an Xbox One title on an external drive which is then plugged into an X console, the user is prompted to download the X-specific data. If space runs out on the drive, the user can delete the data that's only used by the older Xbox One, deleting that chunk via the dashboard.
In addition to location and device tags, developers can also specify content-specific chunks. Good potential candidates here are first-person shooters like Battlefield and Call of Duty. With the Intelligent Delivery system, single-player and multiplayer parts of the game can be partitioned off, allowing the user to delete either component if they're not using them. Similarly, additional components of the game not crucial to the user can be tagged by the developer as optional installs, or capable of being deleted at a later date - level editors, for example.
With content now divided into context-sensitive chunks, the door is now open to titles that can be delivered to users on more than one Blu-ray disc. Logically, essential data is located on the first disc and installed first, with the Xbox system software prompting the user to insert further discs in order to install other data.
Optional 'chunks' can be included on additional discs, with the user potentially able to specify what content or languages they'd like to install. What's more, developers can upload a complete project to Microsoft for submission and mastering, but assign different chunks to different discs, effectively using the same master project to create multiple SKUs. For example, Japanese language support could be an optional chunk for Western users - an extra on-demand download, or placed on the secondary disc - while that data would obviously be a mandatory part of the Japan SKU.
