The new API in Windows 10 will get more details soon

Jan 24, 2015 06:51 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft's Xbox boss Phil Spencer has begun offering more details about the upcoming DirectX 12 API that will be included in Windows 10 for the company's many different platforms, from PC to Xbox One and much more, emphasizing that it won't offer major improvements to all games on the console.

Microsoft surprised quite a lot of people last year when it revealed the Windows 10 operating system and the DirectX 12 API, saying that it will bring big performance improvements of even up to 50% to the Xbox One console, not to mention the PC.

At this week's large Windows 10 event, Microsoft once again made a big presentation focused on DirectX 12 but declined to say just exactly how much of a performance increase it's going to bring to the Xbox One.

Now, after being assaulted with questions, Microsoft's Phil Spencer took to Twitter to straighten things out and give just a bit of insight into DirectX 12, ahead of his full-fledged presentation at GDC 2015 in March.

DirectX 12 doesn't improve all the games

First up, Spencer makes it clear that DirectX 12's improvements will be on a game-by-game basis, as it depends on where the game encounters bottlenecks and where the new API can help it perform more smoothly, thereby increasing its quality.

Spencer also mentions that more exact details about what DirectX 12 will bring on the Xbox One, as opposed to the PC, in the near future. Considering the Xbox One uses a not-so-powerful AMD APU, while the PC can use high-end graphics cards, it's possible that not all the features of the API will work on the console.

However, the executive also mentions that DirectX 12's development was already underway when the Xbox One was being built, so Microsoft made sure to implement things that will be supported by the new API when it eventually launches.

Overall, seeing as how Microsoft is still scarce on the details, it seems that Spencer's upcoming talk at GDC 2015 in March will be the next place where the company will offer more details about Windows 10 and DirectX 12.