News Posts matching #Game Developers Conference

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EA Presented AI-enriched Development Tools at GDC 2025

Technology and its impact on interactive entertainment experiences is nothing short of remarkable. AI and machine learning are allowing our creators to explore new ways to test games, build worlds, and create deeper, more immersive experiences at a faster rate without sacrificing quality. Our artists are empowered to create more realistic, dynamic animations and visuals at a greater scale, delivering more cinematic moments that draw us in and leave us stunned. Or completely immersed in the most enthralling environments possible, surrounded by and interacting with authentic, high-fidelity characters.

Above all, these advancements connect and offer millions of EA's players and fans around the globe new ways to play, create, watch, and connect in and beyond our games like never before. At the recently concluded Game Developers Conference (GDC), EA's brilliant minds showcased some of these technological innovations, highlighting how they empower our developers to craft extraordinary interactive entertainment experiences. Their talks provided insight into the cutting-edge tools and techniques driving the future of game development at EA, and the positive impact this will have on our developers, players and fans across the globe.

Xbox & Industry Leaders Announce Formation of "Accessible Games Initiative"

At Xbox, our goal is to empower as many people as possible to play the games they want, with the people they want, anywhere they want, in a way that works for them. This includes the more than 429 million players with some form of disability, who may rely on a variety of accessibility hardware - such as the recently launched Xbox Adaptive Joystick—and features to get the most from their gaming. For many players, it can be a challenge not having a common and consistent language to describe the accessibility features within different video games. To help solve this, Xbox introduced its Game Accessibility Feature Tags back in November 2021.

But we want to do more; at Game Developers Conference (GDC), Xbox proudly joined forces with Electronic Arts, Google, Nintendo of America, Ubisoft and other gaming companies to announce that it is a member of the new Accessible Games Initiative. This initiative, helmed by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), strives to provide players with clear information about the accessibility features in video games through a set of "tags" that players can use to identify the features available in a specific game, before they make a purchase.

Bloober Team Dives Deep into the World of "Cronos: The New Dawn"

What if the world ended in the 1980s? The answer remains a mystery, but Bloober Team is offering a sneak peek of the first episode of the Cronos: The New Dawn dev diary. Premiering during the Future Game Show at the 2025 Game Developers Conference, this electrifying behind-the-scenes video takes you through the making of Bloober Team's all-new survival horror experience. Get ready to uncover some of the secrets lurking within this post-apocalyptic vision of 1980s Poland. In October 2024, Bloober Team, the masterminds behind Layers of Fear, The Medium, Observer, and the SILENT HILL 2 remake, unveiled their newest horror IP, Cronos: The New Dawn. This high-stakes survival horror adventure immerses players in a deadly struggle against overwhelming and relentless foes, all while unraveling the mysteries of a twisted and fractured time travel narrative.

The game's enigmatic premise has sparked intense curiosity, and now, developers and co-directors Wojciech Piejko and Jacek Zięba have addressed some of the most pressing questions from the community. This exciting video takes a deeper dive into the world of Cronos, revealing more about the game's determined protagonist, the hauntingly desolate future landscape, and the terrifying monsters players will encounter. What's exciting for players is that the Dev Diary offers an exclusive first look at new gameplay clips showcasing the mechanics that will define the player experience in the upcoming game.

Google Making Vulkan the Official Graphics API on Android

We're stepping up our multiplatform gaming offering with exciting news dropping at this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC). We're bringing users more games, more ways to play your games across devices, and improved gameplay. You can read all about the updates for users from The Keyword. At GDC, we'll be diving into all of the latest games coming to Play, plus new developer tools that'll help improve gameplay across the Android ecosystem.

We're sharing a closer look at what's new from Android. We're making Vulkan the official graphics API on Android, enabling you to build immersive visuals, and we're enhancing the Android Dynamic Performance Framework (ADPF) to help you deliver longer, more stable gameplays. Check out our video, or keep reading below.

NVIDIA Reportedly Prepares GeForce RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti Unveil Tomorrow

NVIDIA is set to unveil its RTX 5060 series graphics cards tomorrow, according to VideoCardz information, which claims NVIDIA shared launch info with some media outlets today. The announcement will include two desktop models: the RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti, confirming leaks from industry sources last week. The upcoming lineup will feature three variants: RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB, RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB, and RTX 5060. All three cards will utilize identical board designs and the same GPU, allowing manufacturers to produce visually similar Ti and non-Ti models. Power requirements are expected to range from 150-180 W. NVIDIA's RTX 5060 Ti will ship with 4608 CUDA cores, representing a modest 6% increase over the previous generation RTX 4060 Ti. The most significant improvement comes from the implementation of GDDR7 memory technology, which could deliver over 50% higher bandwidth than its predecessor if NVIDIA maintains the expected 28 Gbps memory speed across all variants.

The standard RTX 5060 will feature 3840 CUDA cores paired with 8 GB of GDDR7 memory. This configuration delivers 25% more GPU cores than its predecessor and marks an upgrade in GPU tier from AD107 (XX7) to GB206 (XX6). The smaller GB207 GPU is reportedly reserved for the upcoming RTX 5050. VideoCardz's sources indicate the RTX 5060 series will hit the market in April. Tomorrow's announcement is strategically timed as an update for the Game Developers Conference (GDC), which begins next week. All models in the series will maintain the 128-bit memory bus of their predecessors while delivering significantly improved memory bandwidth—448 GB/s compared to the previous generation's 288 GB/s for the Ti model and 272 GB/s for the standard variant. The improved bandwidth stems from the introduction of GDDR7 memory.

Next Era of Xbox "Gaming Anywhere" Will be Presented at GDC 2025

As we gear up for the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2025, we couldn't be more excited to meet up with our friends and colleagues in the industry and explore the many incredible new opportunities that await. This year, GDC takes place from March 17-21 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California. We'll host partner meetings, participate in conference sessions, and sponsor events like the IGF Awards and the ESA Foundation's Nite to Unite. Attendees that come by the Xbox Lounge in Moscone South will have a chance to see the latest Xbox experience on PC, join a Q&A with an Xbox development expert, and learn about the opportunities and benefits of building with Xbox across PC, Cloud and Console.

Xbox is expanding to any screen on any device, making it easier for anyone to play with the friends they want - whether they choose to play with Xbox console, PC, Smart TV or mobile. At GDC, we're inviting game developers to go behind the scenes to better understand what it means for Xbox to be playable on any screen. We're committed to empowering game developers to tap into that opportunity by building cross-capable games that take advantage of Xbox across devices. Our presence will reveal the many ways game developers can reach more players with Xbox and showcase success stories of developers who are maximizing the opportunity.

Denuvo/Irdeto "TraceMark for Gaming" Introduced at GDC 2024

Denuvo by Irdeto, the leading provider of security solutions for the gaming industry, is excited to announce the launch of its groundbreaking product, TraceMark for Gaming, during the prestigious Game Developers Conference (GDC). This pioneering watermarking solution, part of the Irdeto anti-piracy suite and the first of its kind to be tailored specifically for the gaming industry, leverages the core invisible watermark technology trusted by Hollywood studios, sports leagues, and pay-TV operators.

TraceMark for Gaming uniquely addresses the challenge of content leakage, especially during the sensitive pre-release phase of game development. It introduces a deterrent effect by enabling the precise tracing of leaked content back to its source. This capability makes potential leakers think twice, knowing that any unauthorized distribution can be directly linked to them. As a platform-agnostic tool, TraceMark effortlessly integrates into various stages of the game's lifecycle, providing a consistent layer of protection. Its adaptability ensures that, irrespective of the development phase or platform, TraceMark serves as an effective measure to discourage leaks by holding individuals accountable, thereby contributing to the overall integrity of the content distribution process.

NVIDIA GeForce Now Goes Heavy on Sci-Fi Additions

The stars align this GFN Thursday as more top titles from Ubisoft and Square Enix join the cloud. Star Wars Outlaws will be coming to the GeForce NOW library at launch later this year, while STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R and PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo are part of eight new titles joining this week. Additionally, four other games are getting NVIDIA RTX enhancements, all arriving at next week's Game Developers Conference.

NARAKA: BLADEPOINT and Portal with RTX are adding full ray tracing and NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction capabilities. This month's Diablo IV update will add ray tracing. And Sengoku Dynasty—available to stream today—was recently updated with DLSS 3 Frame Generation.

Microsoft's Latest Agility SDK Released with Cutting-edge Work Graphs API

Microsoft's DirectX department is scheduled to show off several innovations at this month's Game Developers Conference (GDC), although a late February preview has already spilled their DirectSR Super Resolution API's beans. Today, retail support for Shader Model 6.8 and Work Graphs has been introduced with an updated version of the company's Agility Software Development Kit. Program manager, Joshua Tucker, stated that these technologies will be showcased on-stage at GDC 2024—Shader Model 6.8 arrives with a "host of new features for shader developers, including Start Vertex/Instance Location, Wave Size Range, and Expanded Comparison Sampling." A linked supplementary article—D3D12 Work Graphs—provides an in-depth look into the cutting-edge API's underpinnings, best consumed if you have an hour or two to spare.

Tucker summarized the Work Graphs API: "(it) utilizes the full potential of your GPU. It's not just an upgrade to the existing models, but a whole new paradigm that enables more efficient, flexible, and creative game development. With Work Graphs, you can generate and schedule GPU work on the fly, without relying on the host. This means you can achieve higher performance, lower latency, and greater scalability for your games with tasks such as culling, binning, chaining of compute work, and much more." AMD and NVIDIA are offering driver support on day one. Team Red has discussed the launch of "Microsoft DirectX 12 Work Graphs 1.0 API" in a GPUOpen blog—they confirm that "a deep dive" into the API will happen during their Advanced Graphics Summit presentation. NVIDIA's Wessam Bahnassi has also discussed the significance of Work Graphs—check out his "Advancing GPU-driven rendering" article. Graham Wihlidal—of Epic Games—is excited about the latest development: "we have been advocating for something like this for a number of years, and it is very exciting to finally see the release of Work Graphs."

Microsoft DirectSR Super Resolution API Brings Together DLSS, FSR and XeSS

Microsoft has just announced that their new DirectSR Super Resolution API for DirectX will provide a unified interface for developers to implement super resolution in their games. This means that game studios no longer have to choose between DLSS, FSR, XeSS, or spend additional resources to implement, bug-test and support multiple upscalers. For gamers this is huge news, too, because they will be able to run upscaling in all DirectSR games—no matter the hardware they own. While AMD FSR and Intel XeSS run on all GPUs from all vendors, NVIDIA DLSS is exclusive to Team Green's hardware. With their post, Microsoft also confirms that DirectSR will not replace FSR/DLSS/XeSS with a new upscaler by Microsoft, rather that it builds on existing technologies that are already available, unifying access to them.

While we have to wait until March 21 for more details to be revealed at GDC 2024, Microsoft's Joshua Tucker stated in a blog post: "We're thrilled to announce DirectSR, our new API designed in partnership with GPU hardware vendors to enable seamless integration of Super Resolution (SR) into the next generation of games. Super Resolution is a cutting-edge technique that increases the resolution and visual quality in games. DirectSR is the missing link developers have been waiting for when approaching SR integration, providing a smoother, more efficient experience that scales across hardware. This API enables multi-vendor SR through a common set of inputs and outputs, allowing a single code path to activate a variety of solutions including NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution, AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution, and Intel XeSS. DirectSR will be available soon in the Agility SDK as a public preview, which will enable developers to test it out and provide feedback. Don't miss our DirectX State of the Union at GDC to catch a sneak peek at how DirectSR can be used with your games!"

AMD FSR 3 FidelityFX Super Resolution Technology Unveiled at GDC 2023

AMD issued briefing material earlier this month, teasing an upcoming reveal of its next generation FidelityFX at GDC 2023. True to form, today the hardware specialist has announced that FidelityFX Super Resolution 3.0 is incoming. The company is playing catch up with rival NVIDIA, who have already issued version 3.0 of its DLSS graphics enhancer/upscaler for a small number of games. AMD says that FSR 3.0 is in an early stage of development, but it is hoped that its work on temporal upscaling will result in a number of improvements over the previous generation.

The engineering team is aiming for a 2x frame performance improvement over the existing FSR 2.0 technique, which it claims is already capable of: "computing more pixels than we have samples in the current frame." This will be achieved by generating a greater number of pixels in a current frame, via the addition of interpolated frames. It is highly likely that the team will reach a point in development where one sample, at least, will be created for every interpolated pixel. The team wants to prevent feedback loops from occurring - an interpolated frame will only be shown once, and any interpolation artifact would only remain for one frame.

NCSOFT Unveiled its Digital Human for the First Time at GDC 2023

NCSOFT, a global premier game developer and publisher, unveiled its digital human technology together with Project M's trailer at the Game Developers Conference 2023 (GDC), currently being held in San Francisco, CA.

On March 22, NCSOFT revealed the video at State of Unreal, Epic Games' opening session at GDC held to introduce new Unreal Engine tools and technologies in collaboration with its partners. Here, Songyee Yoon, chief strategy officer (CSO) at NCSOFT, was on stage to introduce the company's latest project, Project M, and its trailer.

Razer Introduces Universal Haptics SDK and Directional Haptics at GDC 2023

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today announced the release of the Interhaptics universal HD haptic SDK and directional haptics at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2023 in San Francisco. This free SDK release focuses on enabling a heightened immersive gaming experience, bringing audio and visual effects to life with HD haptic feedback that can now be completely customized through the Interhaptics SDK.

With today's announcement, Interhaptics, the leading haptic technology platform, has expanded its support to include PlayStation 5*, PlayStation 4, Meta Quest 2, X-input controllers, iOS, and Android devices for game engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine. Additionally, the haptic composer software has been upgraded to include in-app testing for DualSense wireless controllers for PS5 and select Razer HyperSense headsets. Interhaptics can now deploy HD haptics on over 5 billion devices across multiple ecosystems. Developers can sign up for the waiting list for the Razer Kraken V3 HyperSense Dev Kit with programmable directional HD haptics at the Interhaptics website.

Cooler Master and D-BOX Team up for an Innovative Haptic Gaming Chair

Cooler Master, the high-performance component and peripherals brand, today announced it worked with D-BOX to produce its latest entry into the gaming chair market, The Motion 1 Haptic Gaming Chair. Cooler Master and D-BOX are currently present at the 2023 Game Developers Conference—GDC, taking place in San Francisco, from March 20 to 24, 2023. We invite all gaming studios to experience the Motion 1 haptic gaming chair at booth P1679 (Games from Quebec)

Motion 1 is the world's first haptic engine gaming chair developed in collaboration with D-BOX, a worldwide leader in haptic technology. Motion 1 is engineered to provide haptic feedback to your games and entertainment. Feel the bullets strafing your canopy in your favorite air battle movie, ocean waves crashing into your boat during a raid in Assassin's Creed Valhalla or the gentle tug as you accelerate in your favorite racing game. It's an entirely new dimension of realistic feedback that enhances your gaming and entertainment in a premium package replete with ergonomic comfort.

Acer to Share Game-Changing Stereo 3D Gaming Advancements with SpatialLabs at GDC 2023

Acer will be participating in the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2023 held from March 20-24 in San Francisco to share the latest innovations of its industry-leading SpatialLabs experience. It combines advanced eye-tracking cameras, a stereoscopic 3D display and stereo rendering capabilities to deliver immersive 3D experiences without the need for specialized glasses. With a click of a button, 2D visuals seem to pop out of their screens, giving designers, marketers, and other professionals a unique way of interacting with their creations in 3D views.

SpatialLabs TrueGame
Following its launch in 2021, Acer took it up a notch by bringing its glasses-free stereoscopic 3D technology to the world of gaming through the SpatialLabs TrueGame application. With a Predator Helios 300 SpatialLabs Edition laptop, or a SpatialLabs View display paired with a PC, users can enjoy the supported titles in their true 3D form, delivering immersive gaming experiences as envisioned by their developers. This is possible because games are mostly created with a three-dimensional world in mind as developers include information about depth in each scene and object they build. SpatialLabs leverages this already-existing information in order to present the games in stereoscopic 3D. A dedicated pre-configured profile is now available for each game title, among the 70+ modern and classic titles on launch, to offer players a seamless experience with their favorite games. More profiles for additional titles will be added on a continuous basis moving forward.

AMD Could Tease DLSS 3-rivaling FSR 3.0 at GDC 2023

AMD could tease its next-generation graphics performance enhancement rivaling NVIDIA DLSS 3, at the 2023 Game Developers Conference (GDC 2023), slated for March 23. While the company didn't name it, its GDC 2023 session brief references an "exciting sneak peek of new FidelityFX technologies" that will be "available soon," meaning that it isn't the recently released FSR 2.2. We expect this to be the very first look at FSR 3.0.

AMD frantically dropped in the first mention of FSR 3.0 in its Radeon RX 7900 series RDNA3 announcement presentation (slide below). The company let out precious little details of the new technology except the mention that it offers double the frame-rate versus FSR 2 (at comparable image quality). Does this involve a frame-rate doubling technology similar to DLSS 3? We don't know yet. It could just be a more advanced upscaling algorithm that doubles performance at a given quality target compared to FSR 2. We'll know for sure later this month. It would be a coup of sorts for AMD if FSR 3.0 doesn't require RX 7000 series GPUs, and can run on older Radeon GPUs, whereas DLSS 3 requires the latest GeForce RTX 40-series GPUs.

AMD Potentially Preparing to Announce FSR 2.0 at GDC 2022

AMD is scheduled to hold an event discussing "Next-Generation Image Upscaling for Games" at the Game Developers Conference on March 23. The event only includes a brief description that "AMD will present some of the results of their research in the domain of next-generation image upscaling technology" but the developer of CapFrameX has recently claimed to see footage from FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 2.0 so AMD may be preparing to announce the technology imminently.

The developer claims that FSR 2.0 switches to a temporal upscaling approach with optimized anti-aliasing that doesn't require AI acceleration unlike DLSS & XeSS meaning that it can work with GPUs from multiple vendors. The technology can also allegedly improve image quality beyond native resolution but we will need to wait for the official announcement and reviews before reaching any conclusions.

Intel to Unveil "Tiger Lake-H" and "Rocket Lake-S" on March 18

Intel is expected to unveil its 11th generation Core "Tiger Lake-H" performance-segment mobile processor, and the highly anticipated 11th Gen Core "Rocket Lake-S" desktop processor family on March 18, 2021. The two will be launched on the sidelines of the 2021 GDC (Game Developers Conference), an online event. The agenda page of GDC mentions both "Tiger Lake-H" and "Rocket Lake." The "Tiger Lake-H" family of processors begin with quad-core SKUs based on the 4-core "Tiger Lake" silicon, extending to 6-core and 8-core ones based on a newer 8-core silicon. Both dies are built on the 10 nm SuperFin node, and combine Intel's highest-IPC "Willow Cove" CPU cores with a Gen 12 Xe iGPU.

The 11th Gen Core "Rocket Lake-S" has been unveiled back at the 2021 International CES (online event) in January, and is heading toward a mid/late-March launch. The chips pack up to eight "Cypress Cove" CPU cores, which are a back-port of Intel's 10 nm CPU core architectures to the 14 nm node, bringing the first IPC increase on the client desktop platform from Intel since 2015. At GDC, we expect Intel to detail individual SKUs within the 11th Gen Core processor family, giving us a broader idea of what chips will launch this month. The GDC backdrop also foreshadows the marketing strategy for Intel with both these platforms—gaming. The company will take advantage of the IPC uplift to present its processors as being better for gaming, and sufficiently fast in most client-relevant tasks. The GDC backdrop could also let Intel show off the ISV relations it's built with game developers, detailing how certain popular game engines are optimized for Intel.

GDC Rescheduled to a Three Day "GDC Summer" Set for August 4-6

2020's Game Developers Conference (GDC), originally set to be live from March 16th through March 20th, was one of the first tech shows to be cancelled in wake of the Sars-Cov-2 outbreak. Now, the organization has announced that the event has been rescheduled a full 5 months later for August 2020. The event has been set for a three-day "GDC Summer" still taking place in Moscone Center in San Francisco, USA, starting August 4th and ending August 6th. Passes for the exhibition are already available, with early takers being offered heavy discounts over the on-floor passes.

GDC has been the stage for a number of high-profile gaming and services announcements, with the 2019 edition seeing announcements for Google's Stadia, EPIC Games detailing new features for its Unreal engine, and AMD taking the lid of their (then) upcoming 3rd generation Ryzen CPUs. Intel was first expected to detail their Xe graphics architecture at GDC 2020. It remains to be seen whether the blue giant will still be doing so in wake of this delay, or if the company will find an in-house (albeit likely online) alternative to get word of mouth flowing on their upcoming high performance graphics architecture.

Game Developers Conference gets Postponed due to COVID-19 Concerns

Game Developers Conference is perhaps one of the biggest organizations in the gaming industry, covering everything from gaming hardware to games themselves. This year's GDC event was planned to happen on March 16th, however, due to the Coronavirus COVID-19 concerns, the GDC organization has decided to postpone the event. This doesn't mean that the conference will not happen at all. Instead, the GDC organizers plan to host the event sometime "later in the summer", when hopefully the COVID-19 concerns will settle. To add, Facebook also canceled its F8 Developer Conference, along with Open Compute Project (OCP) Global Summit which also got canceled due to virus outbreak fears.

Being that Computex is happening within three months, there are growing concerns that the event may not happen at all, however, we can hope that the situation will be resolved soon and that we can bring you live coverage of the event.

GDC 2020 On Schedule Despite COVID-19 Concerns, No Change in Computex Schedule, Either

The 2020 Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the video game and interactive art industry, is on schedule for its mid-March unveiling despite concerns over the COVID-19 global epidemic (aka novel-Coronavirus outbreak). The epidemic is believed to be largely responsible for the cancellation of the 2020 edition of MWC (Mobile World Conference) held in Barcelona, Spain. GDC 2020 will hit the road on March 16th, with its seat at Moscone Center in San Francisco, USA. Unlike MWC, which is fueled primarily by large mobile firms based out of Asia, GDC is a bit more democratized, and largely attended by independent (indie) game developers. Indie delegates use GDC mainly as a networking platform.

In related news, the 2020 Computex expo, the largest annual gathering of the PC and allied electronics industries, is on schedule for its June 2nd unveiling. This is particularly important as Computex is held in Taipei, situated in proximity to South- and Central Mainland China, which have the biggest clusters of COVID-19 cases, with its epicenter in Wuhan, Hubei province. The last major epidemic to ravage this part of the world, the 2003 SARS outbreak, had forced a postponement of the year's Computex to late-September. Organizers TAITRA will institute special measures for the show in compliance with local regulations, which include a mandatory requirement for on-site workers to wear face masks capable of filtering out NoCV, a "no handshake" policy, easy access to hand-sanitizers, possible medical outposts and additional presence of emergency personnel.

Intel to Detail Xe Graphics Card Architecture at GDC

This year's Game Developers Conference (GDC) that will take place in March is forming to become a very interesting one. According to the GDC schedule platform, Intel is having a presentation about its upcoming Xe graphics card architecture. Saying that "Intel's brand new Xe Architecture, has been teased for a while, and is scheduled for release later this year! This update brings a significant compute, geometry and throughput improvements over today's widely used Gen9 and Gen11 graphics.", Intel is giving us a slight hint of what is to come.

Presented by Intel's senior developer relations engineer, Antonie Cohade, the talk will include an in-depth look of the Xe hardware architecture and its implementations. Said to introduce "powerful new features", the talk about Xe graphics should include a mention of the latest trend in the world of 3D graphics, ray tracing, and show us what are the capabilities of the new GPU architecture.

EPIC Games Shows off Homonymous Raytracing Proof of Concept Videos

EPIC delivered their "The State of Unreal" presentation at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week (which had a great deal much time devoted to raytracing technologies). EPIC Games has been at the forefront of graphics development for some years now. Their engines (alongside a few other key players in the industry) routinely push the boundaries of graphical fidelity. And naturally, something would be amiss if they weren't jumping on the raytracing bandwagon as well with some of the most impressive proof of concept videos I've ever seen in real-time generated graphics. The company took their time, then, to unveil their artistic interpretations of real-time ray tracing, motion capture and real-time facial animation mapping. Cue many videos, after the break.

Microsoft Releases DirectX Raytracing - NVIDIA Volta-based RTX Adds Real-Time Capability

Microsoft today announced an extension to its DirectX 12 API with DirectX Raytracing, which provides components designed to make real-time ray-tracing easier to implement, and uses Compute Shaders under the hood, for wide graphics card compatibility. NVIDIA feels that their "Volta" graphics architecture, has enough computational power on tap, to make real-time ray-tracing available to the masses. The company has hence collaborated with Microsoft to develop the NVIDIA RTX technology, as an interoperative part of the DirectX Raytracing (DXR) API, along with a few turnkey effects, which will be made available through the company's next-generation GameWorks SDK program, under GameWorks Ray Tracing, as a ray-tracing denoiser module for the API.

Real-time ray-tracing has for long been regarded as a silver-bullet to get lifelike lighting, reflections, and shadows right. Ray-tracing is already big in the real-estate industry, for showcasing photorealistic interactive renderings of property under development, but has stayed away from gaming, that tends to be more intense, with larger scenes, more objects, and rapid camera movements. Movies with big production budgets use pre-rendered ray-tracing farms to render each frame. Movies have, hence, used ray-traced visual-effects for years now, since it's not interactive content, and its studios are willing to spend vast amounts of time and money to painstakingly render each frame using hundreds of rays per pixel.

Is DirectX 12 Worth the Trouble?

We are at the 2017 Game Developers Conference, and were invited to one of the many enlightening tech sessions, titled "Is DirectX 12 Worth it," by Jurjen Katsman, CEO of Nixxes, a company credited with several successful PC ports of console games (Rise of the Tomb Raider, Deus Ex Mankind Divided). Over the past 18 months, DirectX 12 has become the selling point to PC gamers, of everything from Windows 10 (free upgrade) to new graphics cards, and even games, with the lack of DirectX 12 support even denting the PR of certain new AAA game launches, until the developers hashed out support for the new API through patches. Game developers are asking the dev community at large to manage their expectations from DirectX 12, with the underlying point being that it isn't a silver-bullet to all the tech limitations developers have to cope with, and that to reap all its performance rewards, a proportionate amount of effort has to be put in by developers.

The presentation begins with the speaker talking about the disillusionment consumers have about DirectX 12, and how they're yet to see the kind of console-rivaling performance gains DirectX 12 was purported to bring. Besides lack of huge performance gains, consumers eagerly await the multi-GPU utopia that was promised to them, in which not only can you mix and match GPUs of your choice across models and brands, but also have them stack up their video memory - a theoretical possibility with by DirectX 12, but which developers argue is easier said than done, in the real world. One of the key areas where DirectX 12 is designed to improve performance is by distributing rendering overhead evenly among many CPU cores, in a multi-core CPU. For high-performance desktop users with reasonably fast CPUs, the gains are negligible. This also goes for people gaming on higher resolutions, such as 1440p and 4K Ultra HD, where the frame-rates are low, and the performance tends to be more GPU-limited.
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