Windows 7: World of Warcraft players enjoy DirectX 12 boost

[HEXUS]

Blizzard and Microsoft have worked together because the new API works so well in this title.

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[aniilv]

I would like to see some numbers before claims of games running faster in win10

[blueball]

Shows that DX 12 (or a subset thereof) could have been released in Win7. #LetsForceMoreSales

[spacein_vader]

Shows that DX 12 (or a subset thereof) could have been released in Win7. #LetsForceMoreSales

Was that ever in doubt?

[DanceswithUnix]

I have to wonder if using Vulkan from the start would have saved time and money for them in the long run.

[Tabbykatze]

OC3D made a very interesting comment that was this actually a genius move to get more developers to support DX12. If it is available on both platforms that cover 80% of the market then its adoption is more rewarding.

Now, this does show that MS could have done it all along and original was a USP to get people to move to Win10 but it's obvious in 4 years it hasn't moved as fast as they'd like. So they shifted their position to push for something bigger than just a migration to Win10.

[afiretruck]

I have to wonder if using Vulkan from the start would have saved time and money for them in the long run.

I suppose it depends on how much financial and technical support Microsoft have given them for this. I doubt they would have had any such support for a Vulkan implementation.

[shaithis]

Microsoft says it is currently working with a few other game developers to port their D3D12 games to Windows 7

What an unbelievably late u-turn.....

[GinoLatino]

I have to wonder if using Vulkan from the start would have saved time and money for them in the long run.

Vulcan api (2016) weren't available when WoW whas released (2004).
Vulcan are even younger then DX12 (2015)

[DanceswithUnix]

I suppose it depends on how much financial and technical support Microsoft have given them for this. I doubt they would have had any such support for a Vulkan implementation.

I have never had useful support from Microsoft in any professional or personal capacity. Still waiting for that Microsoft C compiler bug to be fixed from 1986 that forced me to switch to Turbo C

Vulcan api (2016) weren't available when WoW whas released (2004).
Vulcan are even younger then DX12 (2015)

lol, sorry not from the start of WoW that is clearly nonsense, I should have said from the start of their using a low level API.

[AnonAnon]

I have to wonder if using Vulkan from the start would have saved time and money for them in the long run.

I've heard the issue with Vulkan vs DX12 adoption is documentation. Developers find it hard to write Vulkan code because there's not enough examples and good documentation.

[spacein_vader]

Given that DX12 WoW already exists I can't see how Vulkan would help reduce costs. What this does is allow them to maintain only one version rather than 2.

[DanceswithUnix]

Given that DX12 WoW already exists I can't see how Vulkan would help reduce costs. What this does is allow them to maintain only one version rather than 2.

The point is why did DX12 WoW ever exist?

This is only news because they chose a platform that was so locked down. Which is odd when they are a Khronos member: https://www.khronos.org/members/list

[spacein_vader]

The point is why did DX12 WoW ever exist?

This is only news because they chose a platform that was so locked down. Which is odd when they are a Khronos member: https://www.khronos.org/members/list

Because when Wow was released in 2004 it was a DX (9?) game, so when Vulkan appeared a couple of years ago it was probably simpler to build a DX12 version than to port 12+ years of DX9/10/11 coding and bodging to a totally different API.

That'd be my guess.

[afiretruck]

Because when Wow was released in 2004 it was a DX (9?) game, so when Vulkan appeared a couple of years ago it was probably simpler to build a DX12 version than to port 12+ years of DX9/10/11 coding and bodging to a totally different API.

That'd be my guess.

Except that the whole idea of DX12 is that it's totally different than DX9/10/11. This is why games like FF XIV haven't yet had a DX12 version built. Whether you choose to go with Vulkan or DX12, you have to rebuild your engine around it.

[Kato-2]

There is no reason for this to happen with Win 7 at the end of it's life or that WoW as a game is that relevant to be given such special treatment.

This smells like an experiment, to deploy a portable version of DX12 on other platforms to see how it fairs in the wild. With the long term goal to see the viability of putting a portable DX12 on other non-MS platforms, that would be much more in line with the strategic goals of current day MS to be the glue between everything no matter the platform.