Microsoft’s DirectX 12 API has been making headlines for quite a while now. Already, several games set to be released on PC are known to utilize the API, such as the likes of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, and Ashes of the Singularity.
The new DirectX 12 API promises drastic improvements, as well as utilizing CPU processors with lower number of cores, reducing bottlenecks between GPU and CPU.
As far as consoles go, DX12 for Xbox One remains a mystery. Microsoft does not seem to have a clear stance whether it will help its flagship console in any way.
What about PS4 you ask? Well, Sony keeps quiet most of the times, but some experts have the opinion that Sony’s flagship console has API that should at the very least hold on its own.
Celtoys founder Don Williamson has worked on gaming engine and pipeline optimization on various games, and when speaking to GamingBolt, he stated that Sony has been writing the rule book on how the most efficient console APIs should be implemented, going back as far as the original PlayStation days.
“The PS4 is a fixed console platform and as far back as the original PlayStation, Sony has been writing the rule book on how the most efficient console APIs should be implemented.”
Sony uses a custom set of solutions and tools for the PS4 API, with two graphics APIs running.
Currently, their two APIs run in a manner similar to DX11, but with the firm constantly upgrading and improvement things as time goes on (such as recently unlocking the 7th CPU core to allow devs to offload certain tasks to it), it’s safe to say that Sony will improve its existing API tool sets and framework whenever developers begin to use DirectX 12 on their Xbox One games.
