Microsoft has announced a new system to address the long wait times for shader compilation that frustrate many PC gamers. The solution, called Advanced Shader Delivery, is being introduced first for ASUS ROG Xbox Ally handhelds and select games available through the Xbox app.
A common frustration for PC gamers
For many players, the excitement of launching a new big-budget game is often dampened by lengthy shader compilation screens. These loading processes can stretch on for one to two hours on older or slower machines, with progress bars that move painfully slowly.
Some recent titles, such as Hogwarts Legacy, have required this step before players can even reach the main menu. Others skip the initial compilation but then risk causing in-game stuttering when shaders are generated on the fly. Both approaches have left gamers frustrated, particularly those with less powerful hardware.
Microsoft’s new system aims to solve the issue by compiling shaders in advance and storing them in the cloud. This would allow players to download the shaders with the game itself, eliminating delays at launch and helping reduce performance issues once gameplay begins.
A complex challenge for PC hardware
The main difficulty lies in the fact that shaders are hardware-specific. With the huge variety of graphics cards, drivers and CPU combinations on the market, developers would need to prepare dozens of versions for each game to cover the most common configurations. This could result in a massive database of precompiled shaders, especially when applied across all the AAA titles released each year.
On consoles, the process is significantly more straightforward. Developers only need to account for a small number of hardware variations, such as the two or three versions of Xbox or PlayStation currently in use. This is why Microsoft is first testing Advanced Shader Delivery on the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, which only have two main hardware setups to manage.
Long road to widespread adoption
The technology is now supported within Microsoft’s Agility SDK for developers, enabling game studios to integrate it into their upcoming releases. However, adoption is likely to be a slow process.
A similar situation unfolded with Microsoft’s DirectStorage, a feature designed to reduce game loading times by enhancing asset streaming. Despite launching three years ago, only a handful of major titles have adopted Direct Storage so far. Experts suggest that Advanced Shader Delivery could face a similar drawn-out timeline before it becomes a standard feature across most PC games and appears on major platforms, such as Steam.
For now, the technology holds promise for smoother gameplay in the future, but players may need to be patient before its benefits become widely accessible.
