Microsoft is often working on improving the quality of life for the Xbox via improvements big and small. While each of the big three consoles has their strengths and weaknesses, Xbox seems to have going for it the idea that it is a consumer-friendly company with systems and services in place that are of great quality and value for its consumers. One of the newest quality of life improvements for the Xbox tells gamers when download speeds are being affected by games that are running in the background.
Video game files are not getting any smaller, in fact, the Xbox Series X has some huge video game file sizes already. Downloading games, big and small, can be a bit of a burden. Even an update or a patch can take an entire evening, which after a long day of work can ruin the plans of a relaxing session of gaming. Xbox is looking to help out with that download speed with its newest alert system.
Xbox now alerts gamers if there is a game running in the background that is affecting the download speed of an install/download. A message will let players know that the game may affect the speed of the download, so players may want to close it out to allow the download to run faster. Of course, the option to play a game while downloading is in progress is still there, so players will still be able to multi-task if they would like to.
This feature is separate from the Xbox Series X|S Quick Resume feature. So while players will want to close out the most recently played game to speed up the download time, all of the games that are stored within Quick Resume can stay be in place and can be instantly accessed. They will not affect the download speed in any way, which is certainly a good thing.
Microsoft is constantly working on creating services and features that are consumer-friendly. When Major Nelson celebrated his 20th year at Xbox, he talked about the company always falling on the side of the customer with services, games, and products; this is yet another small example of this.
The ridiculous value of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is another much larger example of being consumer-friendly. The subscription service is something that many Xbox players value. There are hundreds of games to choose from, and now with the ability to see if download speeds are being affected because a game is open, even more games can be enjoyed.