At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2014, Microsoft unveiled DirectX 12. They stated that with this new version of DirectX, developers will have more direct control over their visuals then ever, with more complex scenes and rendering features. Microsoft also said that these changes will come to Xbox One games and other platforms. According to Anuj Gosalia from Microsoft, the performance will be greatly improved in Xbox One games as well as all Microsoft platforms.
Microsoft aims for DirectX 12 to be a “console-like” API, making it easier for developers to work with higher consistency and predictability. Microsoft further went on to say that 40 percent of all DirectX 11 hardware will be ready for DirectX 12 on day one. Chris Tector from 10 Studios showed a demo of Forza Motorsport 5 running Direct3D 12 on the PC. Even though Direct3D 12 really impacted the game’s performance, people still said the game still looked like the Xbox One version.
GPU Manufacturer AMD was at the presentation and tried to clear the air about DirectX 12 by saying that customers will benefit from using DirectX 12 on their current AMD graphics cards. Eric Mintzer, vice president of Intel, said that 4th-gen Core processors will be ready for DirectX 12 at launch. DirectX 12 will also be available for Fermi, Kepler, Maxwell, and Nvidia architectures. Epic will utilize DirectX 12 by working with NVIDIA and Microsoft to implement DirectX12 into Unreal Engine 4. Qualcomm is looking into bringing DirectX 12 into mobile devices.
As far as the compatibility goes for Windows operating systems, Windows XP will not support DirectX 12. Microsoft did not say whether or not Windows 7 will be supporting DirectX 12. Microsoft made a final statement stating that 50 percent of all PC game rigs will be DirectX 12 compatible at launch. Be on the lookout for a preview of DirectX 12 later this year.
To see some images from the presentation, read more at IGN.com: http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/03/20/gdc-microsoft-reveals-directx-12-xbox-one-improvements
