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Today, Microsoft’s DirectX team announced a new feature called Advanced Shader Delivery. This innovative update will initially be available on the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X handhelds, set for release on October 16 at $549.99 and $899.99 respectively. The feature is also expected to roll out to regular PCs in the future. Next month, game developers will receive a dedicated AgilitySDK to integrate this functionality into their games—both new and existing.
Advanced Shader Delivery aims to tackle one of the primary complaints among PC gamers: shader stuttering. According to Microsoft’s DirectX team, who partnered with Xbox and AMD on this feature:
“By precompiling data and distributing it via the Xbox PC app during download time for key titles, we significantly reduce launch times and prevent most instances of stutter that can cause performance issues. For example, in Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed, our teams observed a 85% reduction in launch times.”
The process involves collecting shader data from any game and packaging it into a new standard format called State Object Database (SODB). DirectX engineers successfully separated the shader compiler from the graphics driver, allowing the game data to be united with the compiler in the cloud. This results in a Precompiled Shader Database (PSDB), which can be distributed alongside the game via the Xbox Store. When a game runs for the first time, it finds all necessary shaders already available in a Windows cache and skips the compilation step on the gaming device. If a driver update is received, the app will automatically update the shader cache.
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However, this feature will initially only work on titles distributed through the Xbox app, not Steam or other storefronts like Epic Games Store, GOG, Ubisoft Connect, etc. Other platforms may eventually integrate the feature via the upcoming AgilitySDK.
It remains to be seen whether Advanced Shader Delivery can effectively address the issue of shader stuttering in PC games.
