Cyberpunk 2077 Will Be A DirectX 12 Exclusive On PC

Cyberpunk 2077 Will Be A DirectX 12 Exclusive On PC

Cyberpunk 2077 is looking absolutely fantastic with graphics any game should be envious of. But if you’re looking at purchasing the game for your PC, a new interview has revealed a massive caveat for the game: it will only run on DirectX 12.

During an interview with German tech website PC Games HardwareCyberpunk 2077 lead graphics programmer Marcin Gollent confirmed the first-person RPG would run exclusively on DirectX 12. An update last year means Windows 7 users will still be able to play Cyberpunk 2077, but those running Windows 8 will not.

DirectX 12 tech allows for upper-end graphics and effects like ray tracing and ultra-realism. It also enables higher frame rates and keeps games running smoothly — but it does rely on mid-to-upper-end GPUs to function. It’s not surprising Cyberpunk 2077 would rely on this technology give how stunning the world looks so far, but it does present a challenge for those with older rigs or GPUs.

Every trailer so far has shown off the gorgeous detail, ultra-realism and flashiness of the title. As confirmed by Gollent, the game’s reliance on DirectX 12 technology is because the team wanted to push modern PC hardware to its limits. It’s also the standard tech for Xbox and supports DirectX Raytracing — a core priority for the Cyberpunk team.

According to Gollent, “Cyberpunk 2077 will work absolutely fine with all DX12-compatible GPUs.” This means if you have a DirectX 12 compatible graphics card, you’ll be fine to play the game — but those with older graphics cards may struggle.

While a complete list of graphics cards compatible with DirectX 12 is difficult to track down, there are several individual lists for AMD, Nvidia and other products to compare with.

DirectX 12 was launched in 2015 so it’s likely any mid-to-upper range laptops purchased in the last five years will have the required compatibility to run Cyberpunk 2077.

As Nvidia notes, any graphics card from a GTX 1060 to a Titan X (or equivalent) will be able to run DirectX 12. That covers basically every modern graphics card on the market.

But if you’re hanging onto a last generation GPU and you’re still keen to check out Cyberpunk 2077, now is the perfect time to make the switch. This is one game you won’t want to miss out on.


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