14 DAY TRIAL // An alternative to DirectX sounds like a tall order, but AMD managed to get EA/DICE to try it out with Battlefield 4 and, now, three more game developers are trying their hand at it.
Mantle is an API (application programming interface) that promises to run games much more smoothly at maximum graphics settings on AMD GCN (Graphics CoreNext) GPUs.
Advanced Micro Devices has just announced that Cloud Imperium Games, Eidos Montréal (a part of the Square Enix Group), and Oxide Games have signed partnerships with AMD.
Cloud Imperium's "Star Citizen" crowd-funded PC space simulator (made by famed game designer Chris Roberts) will be made on Mantle.
Eidos Montréal will implement Mantle in the upcoming "THIEF" installment (set for 2014).
Finally, the Oxide Games will use Mantle design the new "Nitrous" engine for 64-bit, multi-core processors. So we should see more than one game from them in the future.