Momentum for Microsoft® DirectX® 10.1 Grows with Major Game Titles, Next-Generation 3D Game Engines, and Windows® 7 API

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Microsoft^® DirectX^® 10.1 graphics leader AMD (NYSE: AMD) announced expanded support for DirectX 10.1 from a number of developers, demonstrating growing momentum for the most advanced Microsoft graphics API Layer to date. GSC Game World released a DirectX 10.1 patch for their newest game title, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky, bringing with it frame rate improvements of up to 10 percent while at the same time enhancing the visual experience of the game¹. On the heels of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky announcement, game engine developer Unigine Corp. announced the availability of Tropics, a downloadable demonstration of its Unigine game engine that showcases the ability to deliver photorealistic virtual environments utilizing the power of DirectX 10.1. Lastly, Microsoft announced at the Professional Developers Conference the use of the DirectX 10.1 API in the Windows^® 7 Windows Desktop Manager.

“Game developers are realizing that supporting DirectX 10.1 is an investment in their future”

In S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky, benchmarks of DirectX 10.1 performance versus DirectX 10 have demonstrated frame rate improvements of as much as 10 percent, while delivering an improved visual experience.

“With S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, we set a very high standard for visual realism, and our efforts were rewarded with over two million copies sold,” said GSC Game World CEO Sergiy Grygorovych. “By using DirectX 10.1, we once again raise the bar with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky, delivering to fans of the first person shooter genre an exhilarating exploration of a post-apocalyptic world.”

Unigine Corp., developers of Unigine cross-platform middleware for virtual 3D worlds, rolled out a DirectX 10.1 implementation in their recently announced Tropics demonstration. Using the Unigine 3D engine, Tropics delivers a stunning virtual island paradise. By drawing upon DirectX 10.1, Unigine has been able to take a step closer to their goal of delivering photo realistic virtual worlds.

"The new Tropics Demo 1.1, based on the latest Unigine technologies, pushes visual realism to new heights,” said Denis Shergin, CEO, Unigine Corp. “Our recent collaboration with the AMD team means that we’ve been able to quickly and easily add some of the killer features of DirectX 10.1 to enhance performance and raise image quality. That’s given us our first-ever chance to get perfect anti-aliasing on foliage, something that has been on our wish list for a long time. It has been a huge pleasure to see AMD’s ATI Radeon™ HD 4000 series arrive this year, as the entire line showcases the benefits of our new DirectX 10.1 technology."

Adding further momentum to DirectX 10.1, Microsoft used their Professional Developers Conference to announce the use of the DirectX 10.1 API in the Windows Desktop Manager of their next operating system, Windows 7.

“Game developers are realizing that supporting DirectX 10.1 is an investment in their future,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Products Group, AMD. “Microsoft has announced that the forthcoming DirectX 11 API in Windows 7 will be a superset of DirectX 10.1, making it a stepping stone in preparing for Windows 7.”

For more information about ATI Radeon graphics, please visit http://ati.amd.com/products/home-office.html.

About AMD

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and industry partners to ignite the next generation of computing and graphics solutions at work, home and play. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, ATI, the ATI logo, Radeon, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Microsoft, DirectX and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the US and other jurisdictions. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

¹ Testing conducted with Windows Vista 32-bit, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.93 Ghz with 2 MB RAM and ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2