The Xbox One has been confirmed to support instant saves and resumes just like the Playstation 4. This will allow the Xbox One to resume in progress games from cold starts, this is the same as iOS and Android devices which allow users to resume and switch between multiple applications at will.
Speaking with Polygon corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business Ben Kilgore talked about the Xbox One’s saved game architecture:
One of things that we haven’t talked about is the way the saved game architecture works…It’s more like a phone a little bit. So you are not going to lose your save game stuff as you are switching between tasks.
Kilgore then gave an example where the player would take a break from the game from a day or two and when they would come back all they’ll need to do is say “Xbox on,” and the console would “bring you right back to where you were in the game.”
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This pause command will be available throughout the Xbox One’s functions including pausing movies, games, music, etc.
Sony also announced this pause and resume feature at their Playstation 4 reveal event in February.