DOOM picks up support for Vulkan graphics API on PC

DOOM picks up support for Vulkan graphics API on PC
DOOM picks up support for Vulkan graphics API on PC

DOOM developers id Software have announced that Vulkan API support is now live for the recently released game. Ultimately, support for the graphics API should lead to higher framerates, making the already fast-paced game feel smooth as butter.

From id Software and Bethesda:

When we were looking to adopt Vulkan for DOOM, the main question we asked ourselves was: "What's the gamer benefit?" Ultimately the biggest benefit will be high framerates. There are a number of game-focused reasons super-high framerates matter, but primarily its movement and player feel. The game just feels amazing running that fast, so we made it a priority to try to really exploit the available hardware on PC.

If you're unfamiliar, Vulkan is a graphics API that gives very low-level access to your graphics hardware, whether AMD or NVIDIA, which generally leads to better performance. The team behind DOOM expects that increased framerates from Vulkan will have the added benefit of making the game much more playable on some older graphics cards as well.

In any case, you'll want to go ahead and pick up the latest drivers from AMD or from NVIDIA depending on your card. Need to upgrade your hardware? Our collection of the best graphics cards has exactly what you need.

Related: Our full DOOM Eternal Xbox One review

Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl