Final version of Windows 10 to ship with DirectX 12 for better PC game graphics

By John Callaham
published

It's not exactly a surprise, but Microsoft has now officially confirmed that the final version of Windows 10 will indeed ship with DirectX 12, the latest entry in the company's PC game graphics API.

While Microsoft first announced DirectX 12 several months ago, this is the first time the company has stated publicly it will be a part of the final Windows 10 launch, which is scheduled to happen sometime in mid to late 2015. Microsoft says:

"We especially encourage gamers to help us make this release great for you by becoming Windows Insiders. Game developers who are part of our DirectX 12 Early Access program have even more incentive to join the Windows Insider program. These game developers will receive everything they need to kickstart their DX12 development, including: updated runtime, API headers, drivers, documentation, and samples, all of which will work with the Windows 10 Technical Preview."

Game developers who are a part of the DirectX 12 Early Access program also subscribe to Epic Games's Unreal Engine 4 will now be able to gain access to the DirectX 12 port of that engine, so they will be able to begin development of games using the API long before it is officially released. Microsoft has previously said that the first games with DirectX 12 should start shipping sometime in the holiday season of 2015.

What do you think of DirectX 12 becoming a part of the Windows 10 launch?

Source: Microsoft (opens in new tab)

John Callaham
John Callaham
45 Comments
  • Gaming is a must, Microsoft doing good there
  • always
  • Good to here something regarding Gaming. Gaming and development FTW
  • Like how they're making it more efficient.
  • DirectX 12 is a myth according to the internet. It will do nothing for games and is basically a smoke screen for the fall of Microsoft. /s
  • What is this lunacy??
  • /s Sarcasm implied ;)
  • The according to internet comment. Lol
  • The internet... Sponsored by Steam, Google, and other's who wish PCs running Windows was not the king
  • Long live the Internet!
  • That's regarding the Xbox One not PCs
  • As Phil himself said, DX12 will be to XBox One as going from Project Dark Zero to Halo 4 graphically wise was for XBox 360. But you know, the armchair experts know more than the people actually working on these things.
  • Yeah, can't believe everything Mrs. Palin says on her show. DirectX will have a lot of improvement over existing implementation especially and perhaps most importantly in the CPU/GPU optimization realm. This will mean games can perform better with less resources which is a boon to which ever side of the gaming coin you're on casual/more serious. They even have demonstrations showing this particular improvement.
  • Halo 5 will be a great test for Microsoft to see how DirectX12 in combination with Cloud powered AI, Lighting Effects and Sundry computations will work out. The only thing I'm excited about....and I'm loving the Windows 10 teased XBox One dashboard.
  • That's mostly in reference to DX12 for XB1, which is partially true. There will be improvements for sure, but developers already have low level access to the consoles hardware, unlike on the PC.
  • Does this mean the next WP version could support it as well :)
  • I hope Windows 10 for ARM does support DX12 and UE4
  • It was announced for desktop, laptop and WP including arm... As everything will be combined into one .. It will definitely support
  • If windows phone 10 can support 512 ram device like the 520 or the 630 can it be ?
  • Xbox One needs this bad.
  • Good news for gaming those low end hardware & better gaming engine.
  • Xbox One support? I want to know more about that.
  • Is anyone having problems playing embedded YouTube videos on websites on the recently released WP 8.1 developers version?
  • Yup, I do. For some insane reason, I have to click the video anywhere but the red play button and the play all the time.
  • Yeah, I can't play them at all.
  • Google doesn't take kindly to anyone messing with their revenue stream. It's not Windows that's doing it.
  • UE4?
  • Unreal Engine. A framework for developing games.
  • Also great for mobile gaming. It cuts the battery usage by more than half for the same output. :)
  • Runescape should check this out, its uses DirextX or OpenGL per user choice. Might enhance DX gameplay :3
  • Mac users: So jealous.. Lol
  • Sure... That just makes you sound insecure.
  • Looks like microsoft is back on track....
  • PC master race :P
  • This great news all around.. Plus with Windows 10 and Direct X12 being used on the Xbox One as well, this should go a long way towards making it easier for developers to get the most out of the console
  • Curses I'm not part of it :P then again I never released a standalone game before, just mods.
  • If it doesn't involve a whole lot of code cleaning on the DWM of Windows 7, probably they can try back porting to Windows 7 as well. The the gamer install base of Windows 7 is pretty huge and not everyone would be jumping onto the Windows 10 bandwagon. This in itself will earn a lot of good praise from the good ol' internet.
  • If the update is free to everyone with Windows 7 and 8, this should be a non issue
  • The update ofcourse has to be free as its an OS component. The thing is if they are rewriting Direct2D which Windows 7 Desktop Window Manager uses to draw windows on screen, then backporting DX12 can be a challenge.
  • I think he was talking about the upgrade to Windows 10 being free. There are other reasons DX12 can't be backported to Windows 7 easily, but if it's good gamers will upgrade to Windows 10 even if it's not free.
  • GOOD JOB MS
  • Ooh that's really good work by Microsoft Posted via the Windows Phone Central App for Android
  • my 650Ti gng to support DX12. I m happy wid dat. More optimized, Stable games and more FPS wad else we need. 
  • Hopefully an Xbox One update gets confirmed as having this also sometime in the next 12-18 months.
  • I hope they shatter the barrier between console and pc gaming. Like make the xbox app an actual gaming application like Steam. Would open up a whole new dimension to their competition. And show that Microsoft is serious about gaming on all ends not just with their consoles.