800°

EA Dev Raises Eyebrows with DX12 Statement

Johan Andersson, Technical Director on Frostbite, tweeted how he would like to require that Win10 and DX12 become the minimum specs for their games by Holiday 2016 and going forward.

lifeisgamesok3298d ago

Frostbite plus DX12 sounds like a good match for Xbox One :)

hello123298d ago (Edited 3298d ago )

Its the right push i don't want to be playing dx9-dx11 games in 5 years time. Gamers will install Windows 10 if they are unable to play Battlefield 5 on Windows 7 and 8, EA just has to do it and stick with it. You have a high end pc you be a fool to stick with windows 7 or 8 Windows 10 with dx12 massively improves the performance of games.

DX12 and Windows 10 reduces the development costs as well porting from PC to x box 1.

christocolus3298d ago (Edited 3298d ago )

I hope this becomes the standard. Square, Eidos, Epic and now Dice. I'm sure more devs will join the dx12 club soon. It's a no brainer,the api streamlines game development,reduces cost&and optimizes hardware.it definitely needs to become the standard across pc and xbox.

poppinslops3298d ago

EA are the world's largest third-party publisher... if they've decided to standardize DX12, the rest will fall in line.

That said, I'd like to see similar statements from Activision, R*, ubisoft etc.

OrangePowerz3298d ago

Not sure how much business sense that makes. The profits for the PC versions aren't that high in the first place and making the games DX12 only will reduce that even further. Games won't be DX12 only for quite some time and I wouldn't be surprised if another Windows version releases before that happens.

I also wouldn't expect too much cost reductions.

Kingthrash3603298d ago (Edited 3298d ago )

How does this include xb1?
Don't get me wrong I'm not hateing or anything but I see a lot of xb1 comments. ..but nowhere in the tweet is xb1 mentioned...looks like it's a pc tweet not a xb1 one. If it iis or if this means this is how Dx12 is going to help xb1 it's welcome...but I just dont see this tweet as being directed towards xb1 in any way.
Just as much as I hate pc gamers jumping in console news...i hate it when console gamers jump into pc news.

JasonKCK3298d ago

Kingthrash360 PC and Xbox are connected because of Windows and DX 12. Can't have one without the other. PC gamers and Xbox gamers may not agree, but they both share a common interest in this.

Bigpappy3298d ago (Edited 3298d ago )

For those who are not seeing what Johan Anderson said on twitter, just click the Credited URL: http://twthereddragon.com/e...
You will see the tweet from that link.

Or just use yarbie1000's link above. If I knew we was replying to you with that link, I could have saved my bubble, LOL.

AngelicIceDiamond3298d ago

Didn't know lightning could strike twice.

3ndulg33298d ago

And they say its not game changer.

Kingthrash3603297d ago (Edited 3297d ago )

Ok I see it now...alot of people will click the read full story and not see the credited url.
Someone asked if it will help xb1 and he said yes.
On that I stand corrected.

@3n
How's that say it is a game changer?? Help is help but the boss of xbox says it will help...just not much. This guy says it will help....and that's it. If he had said it will boost xbox significantly or something of that nature then the words game changer can be used...In this case no. It's good news but lets not over blow this tweet into something it's not.

thereapersson3297d ago

If developers are demanding such minimum specs for their games, your best bet is to just get a console.

its_JEFF3297d ago

It's a game changer for PC optimization. PC gamers will now be able to use much much more of their high-end PC's power! And for the X1, it'll improve how efficiently it uses it's available power. Phil is very careful about the words he chooses when he talks about DX12 and the benefits it brings to the X1... He was there during the lead up to the X1's 180. He knows how the Internet takes what one says and runs with it, he's smarter than that. If there is any difference between the X1/PS4 games in the future... going in either direction, boy I can just imagine the posts on the Internet.

That's why I think MS should have stayed quite about DX12 on the X1, the games would have improved overtime and it would have been attributed to optimization/efficiency/experi ence and people would have been happy cause that's what happens during a consoles life cycle... the games get better ovee time. Now people are anticipating it, waiting for it. They're already asking "when is it coming?" "What's the first game that uses it?" It's almost impossible to please or meet everyone's expectations, especially now... peoples imaginations are running wild.

XBLSkull3297d ago

Nice to see a company looking toward the future with a plan instead of clinging to the past. DX12 is gonna be sick, hope the next iteration of ARMA takes advantage of it. Great news for Xbox One too.

BISHOP-BRASIL3297d ago

@Orange Powerz

Exactly because the profits on PC for AAA games is already limited anyway and the fact DX12 may streamline (i.e. save costs on) the porting process is the reason this may be done.

Now, I'm not saying I expect to see EA, Activision, Ubi or whatever company making a total compromise to only release games with Win10/DX12 minimum specs, but they may very well start to allow their top teams, focusing on high budget projects, to do just that.

This is specially likely because MS eased the process by making DX12 not necessarily require a new GPU and Windows 7 and newer OSes freely upgradable. And I really doubt the people running games like BF4, COD:AW or AC Unity are still running WinXP and rocking 5 years old GPUs, anyway, it's very likely the crowd for AAA games on PC are already very ready for that kind of minimum requirements.

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Gamer19823298d ago ShowReplies(1)
_-EDMIX-_3298d ago

Agreed. Though he feels its "aggressive"....THAT IS WHAT PC GAMING NEEDS!

Consoles are the forced upgrade. PC doesn't have that. I would legit be ok with that all the next gen PC titles require such a thing to bring up the install base in terms of tech.

RegorL3297d ago

Wasn't EA/DICE first with requiring DX10 as well?
http://www.tomshardware.co....

Dragons Age is 64 bits only.

When games go current generation only (PS4, XBoxOne) they should cut of corresponding low end systems on PC.

Worth noting is that Windows 10 and DX12 will be a free upgrade for most people with compatible hardware. Vulkan might become an option for those who absolutely do not want to upgrade. But note the Tweet from Johan that Window 10 really helps Vulkan as well...
https://twitter.com/repi/st...

3297d ago Replies(3)
XanderZane3297d ago

All of them will be on board by the end of 2016. Greatness is coming.

@Kingthrash360, Win10 & DX12 will both be on XB1 by the end of the year, so games made with those graphic engines using DX12 will affect XB1 as well. It's a no brainer really. This will make transfer 3rd party games from PC to XB1 a snap.

iTechHeads3297d ago

This has nothing to do with Xbox One, its specifically talking about PC gaming.

OT: This is never going to happen since the PC market is dominated by cheap-as-hell laptops with integrated graphics. Dev have to accommodate for the lowest common denominator.

Although I would love it if they actually tried. With Windows 10 being pretty much free for most people, I'd say half of the requirement can easily be met by then.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 3297d ago
WESKER20153298d ago

move gaming forward not backwards, DX12 and WIN10 will be the industry standard, keep up or get left behind, the way the world works, great for PC/X1

TheRedButterfly3298d ago

The best course of action. With Windows 10 being a free upgrade for everyone on Win 7/Win 8/Win 8.1, it only makes sense that this becomes the new standard.

gangsta_red3298d ago

Bad Company 2 was THE battlefield game for me. The destruction was absolutely fantastic.

It's also interesting how another high ranking tech head says that DX12 will benefit Xbox One games. Good to hear.

imt5583298d ago ShowReplies(14)
Gamer19823298d ago

He didnt say X1 will benefit at all. God Xbox fans just won't drop it will they?? PC will be massively affected though..

KiwiViper853298d ago

It won't be dropped till there's definitive proof either way. Why are you so anti all the time?

andibandit3298d ago

Talk about getting PWNED

MasterCornholio3297d ago

@gangsta

Help in what way though?

Is in the form of a massive performance increase or is it easier ports between the XB1 and PC?

He gave us a pretty vague answer.

Moldiver3297d ago

gangsta_red + 7h ago
" https://mobile.twitter.com/...

What were you saying?"

And just like that, Johan shoots down PS fanboys in this thread, trying to play it down. I said the frostbite engine on X1 would see improvements. I got dissagress followed by the usual exaggerated "It wont be a dramatic leap" comments from the usual 'suspects'...

And here is one of DICE top guys saying EXACTLY what I said. Why do PS fans always behave like this when it comes to DX12? Its like they are hoping DX12 will don nothing for xbox. Have you guys not been paying attention to the news. DX12 WILL improve xbox game performance. Nobody is saying its going to a "dramatic boost"..A phrase certain ani MS folk, round here, so religeously cling on to when playing down DX12 on Xb1. Phil is a top dude. But he also is NOT a programmer. When guys like wardell and andersson tell you like it is. ...well it is what it is. XB1 will improve via DX12. Get over it.

gangsta_red3297d ago

@MasterCornholio

But he gave us an answer no doubt.

Maybe it will help in the ways that Phil, Wardell and others have already stated in numerous articles regarding what DX12 will bring to game development.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 3297d ago
Shineon3298d ago

Bad company 2 was is still the best I have it on PS3 360 and PC I don't play it on PC because I suck with mouse and keyboard :(

bleedsoe9mm3298d ago (Edited 3298d ago )

with MS giving away win 10 and dx12 for pc is a major push to keep windows as a revelant pc gaming platform with the push that is coming from steam and steam os . its going to be very interesting to see how they plan to monetize it , i wonder if we might see mandatory crossbuy between win 10 and xb1 if you have an active gold sub amd maybe some other enhanced features with a active gold sub . its going to be interesting to see their plan as it unfolds .

OrangePowerz3298d ago

Steam OS isn't really a competition for any Windows.

Monetization isn't any issue for Win10. The amount of normal users who bought a new Windows version to upgrade is very low since quite some time now. They will still make a lot of money from havibg it pre installed on PCs and Laptops as well as businesses. A lot of the profits for Windows and their Office line comes from businesses and not from your normal consumer and I would expect them to continue to buy the licenses. I do expect that MS has something up their sleeve in order to get businesses to purchase Win10 instead of upgrading to it for free.

Yetter3298d ago

well for a big business the licensing for upgrading to a new windows is a drop in the bucket compared to the costs of implementation. I doubt many businesses will be ready to upgrade within the first year of Win10 release. Not too mention there are still many companies running XP which will get no free upgrade anyways

bleedsoe9mm3298d ago

@yetter i could be completely wrong but i don't think the free upgrade has anything to do with microsoft businees customers , as you said many of them are still using xp , and allot of businesses don't upgrade their OS nearly as often pc gamers do .

@OrangePowerz steam os is a major threat down the road to pc gaming on windows , ms has to make sure they don't get squeezed out of that market by Valve . sure ms would be just fine without pc gaming but they don't want to give it up .

OrangePowerz3297d ago

I could have seen Steam OS being a threat earlier but not anymore. The whole Steam machine stuff sounded much better at the reveal than what will actually be released and I feel that Valve missed their window of opportunity.

firefly693298d ago (Edited 3298d ago )

Xbox one already uses features of dx12 not to mention that the Api in use with the machine works close to the metal already when developing games,its going to gain some more optimization resorces mainly a new Esram Api but that will not improve the performance drasticly like some fanboys are thinking.....people cant forget that the hardware components are what they are weak, and Dx 12 will not change that!

3298d ago Replies(2)
3298d ago Replies(1)
Gilgamesh153298d ago

Jeez, it really looks like you copy-pasted a comment I have seen ad nauseam. If I see the term "to the metal" one more time I feel like I will scream.

KiwiViper853298d ago (Edited 3298d ago )

To the plastic?

Bladesfist3298d ago (Edited 3298d ago )

@KiwiViper85
The point is it makes no sense, you never code close to the metal. There will always be a huge amount of abstraction there to make the life of the programmers bearable. Nobody will be writing games in assembly any time soon. High level languages and APIs will always be there even on the consoles. What people really mean is that the consoles can and do have more efficient APIs. Although that looks like it will be a thing of the past soon.

ShwankyShpanky3297d ago (Edited 3297d ago )

mkis007: To the pain!

Shwanky: I don't think I'm quite familiar with that phrase.

mkis007: I'll explain. And I'll use small libraries so that you'll be sure to understand, you Flash-animating beta tester.

Shwanky: That may be the first time in my life a man has dared insult me.

mkis007: It won’t be the last. To the pain means that the first thing you lose will be your memory management below the allocation tables, then your vertex buffer at the initiation of the render loop. Next your rasterizer.

Shwanky: Then my compiler I suppose? I coded that game too quickly the last time, a mistake I don't mean to duplicate tonight.

mkis007: I wasn't finished! The next thing you lose will be your left bracket key followed by your right.

Shwanky: And then my function keys... I understand! Let's get on with it!

mkis007: Wrong! Your function keys you keep and I'll tell you why; so that every shriek of every fanboy at seeing your hideousness is yours to cherish. Every PC Master Racer that weeps at your approach, every Twitch LetsPlayer who cries out, 'dear God, what is that framerate?!'… can be perpetually refreshed with your perfect F5 button. THAT is what to the pain means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3297d ago
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260°

DirectX 12 Agility SDK Announced and Released Today by Microsoft

At GameStack Live, Microsoft announced and released the new DirectX 12 Agility SDK, which delivers DX12 Ultimate features to a larger base. There will benefits for Xbox, too.

Read Full Story >>
wccftech.com
Orchard1095d ago

Pretty cool. Should help devs adopt more modern rendering techniques on both PC & Xbox rather than have to target old versions to cover the majority of their users.

Sayai jin1095d ago

I saw a report that the new Windows update causes a performance decrease in gaming performance.

1095d ago
90°

NVIDIA GeForce 451.48 WHQL released, adds full support for DirectX 12 Ultimate graphics API

DSOGaming writes: "NVIDIA has just released a brand new driver for its graphics cards. According to the release notes, the NVIDIA GeForce 451.48 WHQL driver adds full support for the DirectX 12 Ultimate graphics API. Additionally, this driver supports Hardware-accelerated GPU Scheduling when used with the Windows 10 May 2020 Update."

Read Full Story >>
dsogaming.com
1393d ago
280°

Windows 10 May 2020 Update available for download, features WDDM 2.7 & DirectX 12 Ultimate support

DSOGaming writes: "Microsoft has released the highly anticipated May 2020 Update for Windows 10. This Update brings support for both WDDM 2.7 and DirectX 12 Ultimate. Moreover, it packs some Xbox Game Bar improvements."

Read Full Story >>
dsogaming.com
GaboonViper1423d ago

Here comes another feature update that resets my settings.

Profchaos1422d ago

If it doesn't delete your files ala 1809 consider it a minor victory

1nsomniac1422d ago

I’ve noticed they do this as well.

I wonder how they legally get away with stealthily resetting all the privacy settings to allow tracking and monitoring without notifying you. It was only by chance I noticed it last time.

1422d ago
Unspoken1422d ago

Any software you use does this unfortunately.

1nsomniac1422d ago (Edited 1422d ago )

I think you’re misunderstanding what happens. All your windows settings remain untouched, it doesn’t change any of your settings accept Those related to your privacy. So all those privacy settings you agreed not to share during the installation and other privacy terms that you agreed not to share, within the privacy options page, even your offline linked windows accounts. It secretly enables all of those options without notifying you that it’s changed your selected options that both parties had agreed to. I don’t think they’ll be allowed to continue to do that under GDPR laws so we’ll see if it happens again. However unfortunately for me being in the UK, we won’t have GDPR laws for much longer after we leave the EU.

Hakuoro1422d ago

Gahl1k

The term "willingly" is questionable at best...

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1422d ago
AuraAbjure1422d ago (Edited 1422d ago )

Crash restart lockup repeat. Windows. Wonder what will happen to people who take health advice from its creator.

Edgelordsupreme1422d ago

PEBCAC

I don't have any problems, so the issue is probably someone who thinks Bill Gates has anything to do with the development of Windows in its current form.

Tacoboto1422d ago

"My PC sucks" = "Bill Gates' billions and billions of investment in vaccines and cures will kill you"?

1422d ago
BigTrain1422d ago

Crash, the END. That's what'll happen.

Asuka1422d ago (Edited 1422d ago )

As a note: WDDM 2.7 requires you to have updated drivers (which currently no official WQHL driver w/ support is available for Nvidia yet. Only development branch 450.xx). Also you need a 7th gen or newer Intel CPU w/ igpu, or a 10 series or newer Nvidia GPU, or latest AMD offerings.

WGAF1422d ago

Last time I update, the ethernet driver wasnt available so no matter what (even factory reset) I can't go online. The only way to update is to go online lol. Well I always wanted an offline laptop, so I guess got what I wish for :/

Fishy Fingers1422d ago

Use wifi (or tether to the device your posting from now) and download the driver.