DirectX12 out 2015 - Xbox One benefits detailed, Forza 5 shown on PC

[THUMBS]

Microsoft whisks the wrappers off
Microsoft has unveiled the next generation of its DirectX graphics software at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, as promised. During the event, Turn 10 software architect Chris Tector screened a video of a limited port of Forza Motorsport 5, which has been converted to showcase DirectX12's capabilities.

The new tech is "the most significant leap for Windows game graphics in years", apparently, and developers will be able to deploy it on all Microsoft-supported platforms, including the Xbox One. Specifically, the "benefits of Direct3D 12 will extend to Xbox One" - Direct3D being an application designed to run 3D graphics in a high performance environment, such as a real-time videogame.

The DirectX12 demo of Forza 5 was run on a PC equipped with a NVIDIA graphics card. This obviously invites the assumption that Microsoft will at some point release a full PC version of Forza 5, but keep your imagination in check - there's been no formal announcement to this effect. There's no launch date for the new version of DirectX just yet, either, though Microsoft suggests that "holiday 2015" games will take advantage of it, following a limited access preview this year.

Click through to this PC Perspective liveblog for a better-informed summary of the presentation, including pictures of slides. Be warned - it's pretty jargon-rich in there. We'll do our best to bring you a layman-friendly breakdown in the next week or so.

Thanks to CVG and Devin Connors for their insights.

[thegutta]

Great share :)