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Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD) is a Windows 11 Direct3D 12 technology that helps games load faster. It moves shader compilation off the player's device by precompiling shaders ahead of time and delivering them when a player downloads the game.
As graphics continue to improve, the number of shaders a game compiles grows with them. Compiling those shaders on the player's device at launch, or "just-in-time" during gameplay, leads to longer load times, in-game shader compilation stutter, and higher power consumption. ASD addresses these problems by handling shader compilation before the game reaches the player. Using ASD requires a supported Windows version, an ASD-capable GPU and driver, and storefront integration. See the adoption guide for current requirements.
How Advanced Shader Delivery works
ASD reduces on-device shader compilation through a pipeline that prepares shaders ahead of time and ships the compiled results to players. The pipeline has three stages:
- Create a State Object Database (SODB) for your game, by programmatic generation or manual capture.
- Test the SODB by compiling it into a Precompiled Shader Database (PSDB), registering it locally, and confirming its quality.
- Deploy the SODB to a storefront.
Benefits of Advanced Shader Delivery
Moving shader compilation off the device and delivering precompiled shaders provides several benefits:
- Faster load times. Shaders are compiled ahead of time, so the game spends less time preparing shaders at first launch.
- Less in-game stutter. Precompiling shaders can reduce the just-in-time compilation that causes shader compilation stutter during gameplay.
- Lower power consumption. The player's device spends less power compiling shaders locally.
Learn more
For documentation on how to adopt Advanced Shader Delivery for your title, see Prepare your game for Advanced Shader Delivery.