Xbox One Can Play Games That Are Being Downloaded

We already knew that Microsoft’s Xbox One console will allow you to play a disc-based game while it installs in the background – which is apparently required – but now it has also been confirmed that you will be able to play a game while it’s still downloading.

The confirmation comes from a Microsoft representative speaking to tech blog Engadget. Although you won’t be able to start playing a game immediately after starting the download for obvious reasons, you will be able to after a certain amount has been downloaded.

Exactly how much isn’t known.

“Consumers will be able to sign on to any Xbox One console and have access to all their digital games. Once the required data -– a fraction of the entire game -– is on their hard drive, they can jump into the action while the rest of the game finishes downloading in the background,” a representative told the site in a statement.

The Xbox One won’t be the only next-generation platform to support play while a game is downloading, however. Sony confirmed that the PlayStation 4 will be able to do the same thing, although through slightly different means – exactly how it works on the PS4 isn’t clear yet.

Sony did, however, confirm that as with the Xbox One, you will be able to play games while they’re being installed in the background.

Whether you’re going with the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox One, both features are welcome; having to sit and wait five minutes (or more, in some cases) for a game to install before you’re able to play it is severely outdated by today’s technology standards.

Neither the PlayStation 4 nor the Xbox One have a solid release date just yet; the only thing either company will confirm is that their respective consoles will be available in stores and online in time for the holiday shopping season.