GDC 2015: AMD releases Mantle reference API, asks developers to focus on DirectX 12

2 min. read

Published on March 3, 2015

published on March 3, 2015

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Over the past few months, we’ve covered DirectX 12 and showed you the level of performance gains it can achieve. DirectX 12 promises to bring the same types of low-level APIs that allow game developers closer access to graphics hardware on a PC, very similar in fact to what AMD strove to achieve with its Mantle API. Today, AMD announced plans to effectively put Mantle on the back burner and is asking developers to focus their efforts on DirectX 12 instead.

AMD announced at the Games Developer Conference that it will be releasing the Mantle Programming Guide and a reference API as part of a promise to be open and transparent about the development of Mantle. For the better of the gaming industry, AMD has released a 450-page programming guide that details the capabilities Mantle can achieve and the design decisions that AMD made to obtain the substantial performance improvements Mantle brings to the table.

“AMD is a company that fundamentally believes in technologies unfettered by restrictive contracts, licensing fees, vendor lock-ins or other arbitrary hurdles to solving the big challenges in graphics and computing” – Raja Koduri, VP of Visual and Perceptual Computing, AMD

The semiconductor giant promised in a recent press release that it will continue to support its partners that have committed to Mantle, such as Electronic Arts and its upcoming Battlefield Hardline game, however, it has also warned that developers should start shifting their focus to DirectX 12.

“The Mantle SDK also remains available to partners who register in this co-development and evaluation program. However, if you are a developer interested in Mantle “1.0” functionality, we suggest that you focus your attention on DirectX® 12 or GLnext”

Over the next couple of months, AMD will start positioning Mantle to developers that are looking for “custom needs”, likely referring to media production applications rather than game developers, whose focus should soon be on Windows 10 and DirectX 12.

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time). For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web. Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they're looking for.