Intel removes native support for DirectX 9 from its new Arc graphics cards and Xe integrated graphics

With the release of the 12th Generation Intel Core processors, Intel is withdrawing support for DirectX 9 from its new Arc GPUs and Xe onboard graphics, with help now available through emulation via DirectX 12. The news of DirectX 9's removal comes from a recently updated Intel support page, which states that the 20-year-old graphics API will be discontinued but assures customers that applications and games built on DirectX 9 may still function using D3D9On12.”

In other words, while modern Intel GPUs won't have dedicated drivers for older games that only work with DX9, such as Unreal Tournament, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Team Fortress 2, you should still be able to play them on this hardware. The new requirement for D9D9On12 mapping layers shouldn't have a significant impact on gameplay.

That's not to say things will go wrong, but Microsoft is now responsible for improvements to DirectX 9 games and any associated bugs. This implies that if game developers run into graphical issues or the mapping layer refuses to operate properly, they'll have to deal with Microsoft directly instead of Intel.

Intel also notes that this isn't necessarily bad news. There are few games left that run solely on DX9 rather than the more recent APIs, and they will continue to be supported by Intel. It's also improbable that any new games will be created using DirectX 9 in the years ahead, not to mention how far in-game visual quality has advanced in 20 years since DX9 was first released. The only reason support has lasted so long is because there are still a lot of older PC gaming hardware in use today, given that the Nvidia GTX 1060 is still the most popular graphics card on Valve's Steam poll six years after its inception.

Source: www.theverge.com