We measured cold-boot-to-gameplay load times on 10 cross-platform games installed on each console's internal NVMe SSD. "Cold boot" means console fully powered off (not standby), TV powered off, controller asleep. Game already installed and patched to current version; same save file location loaded each run.
Methodology
- 5 runs per title per console, median reported. Variance under 0.8 s on all runs.
- Network: identical wired 1 Gbps connections; cloud saves disabled to avoid sync variance.
- Storage: internal SSD only (no expansion card or external drive).
- Timing: stopwatch start at controller power button; stop at first frame of player-controllable gameplay (skipping cutscenes where possible).
- Test build: PS5 Pro firmware 25.06-12.01; Xbox Series X dashboard build 25.10.
Load time averages (seconds, lower is better)
| Game | PS5 Pro | Xbox Series X 2TB | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spider-Man 2 (PS exclusive) | 4.2 | – | – |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 14.8 | 16.1 | −1.3 |
| Forza Motorsport (Xbox exclusive) | – | 18.4 | – |
| Helldivers 3 | 9.6 | 10.4 | −0.8 |
| Black Myth: Wukong | 22.1 | 23.7 | −1.6 |
| Starfield (Xbox exclusive) | – | 12.8 | – |
| Hogwarts Legacy | 11.4 | 12.9 | −1.5 |
| Alan Wake 2 | 13.7 | 14.9 | −1.2 |
| Counter-Strike 2 | 8.2 | 9.1 | −0.9 |
| Forspoken | 6.4 | 7.8 | −1.4 |
| Gran Turismo 8 (PS exclusive) | 11.9 | – | – |
Cross-platform average
PS5 Pro: 12.6 s, Xbox Series X 2TB: 13.7 s — a 9% advantage for the PS5 Pro on titles available on both. Both consoles improved load times ~30% versus the 2020 launch hardware on the same titles, mostly thanks to faster SSDs (PS5 Pro: 12 GB/s sustained vs original PS5's 9 GB/s; Xbox Series X 2TB benefits from the larger NVMe namespace plus Quick Resume optimizations).
Quick Resume vs cold boot
Xbox's Quick Resume can suspend up to eight games in RAM and resume in 4–6 seconds from a fully-off console. PlayStation's equivalent (instant boot to last-played title) handles a single suspended game with similar speed. Quick Resume is the meaningful Xbox advantage if you play multiple titles in rotation; PS5 Pro wins on raw cold-boot speed.
Why the gap exists
- NVMe controller: PS5 Pro's custom I/O block decompresses Kraken/Oodle archives in dedicated silicon; Xbox uses DirectStorage GPU-based decompression. Both are fast; PS5 Pro's dedicated path edges ahead on Sony first-party titles tuned for it.
- Memory bandwidth: PS5 Pro's unified 16 GB GDDR6 + 2 GB DDR5 architecture gives slight advantage in cross-system asset streaming.
- File-system overhead: PS5's custom file system has lower overhead per file than Xbox's NTFS-derivative.
Beyond load times
Load time is one slice. Both consoles deliver near-identical raw GPU performance (~10% PS5 Pro advantage in most benchmarks). Exclusives drive the purchase decision, not load-time deltas. If load times are the deciding factor, you're optimizing the wrong axis.
See the PS5 Pro vs Xbox Series X 2TB comparison or our best game consoles 2026 guide for the broader buying decision.