Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
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Title: Microsoft is working on a fix for PC shader stutter

Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2025 19:36:18 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/microsof...

Microsoft is creating a new "advanced shader delivery" feature for the ASUS
ROG Xbox Ally handhelds that might make loading games faster and more stutter-
free. The company teased the upcoming feature alongside the announcement of
the launch date for the first Xbox-branded handhelds and the company's new
compatibility system for figuring out if games will run well on handhelds.

Shader stutter is a widespread issue in PC gaming that doesn't occur on
consoles because of their uniform hardware. You have to download shaders for
a PC game to make sure that they run correctly on your specific hardware.
Typically, a game downloads shaders when they're first launched, which can
add to the wait before you can actually start playing, and lead to things
like framerate drops as shaders are compiled in the background. Microsoft's
system "preloads game shaders during download" which the company says will
allow games to launch up to 10 times faster, "run smoother, and use less
battery on first play."

It sounds like this new shader delivery system will require some amount of
buy-in from developers, which means it likely won't impact every game at
launch. It's just one of the ways Microsoft is trying to address the
complexity and inefficiency Windows 11 can add to gaming. Besides including
easier access to features like the Game Bar and ASUS' Armoury Crate software,
the company also says that its handheld version of Windows will "minimize
background activity and defer non-essential tasks" to devote more resources
to playing games.

Microsoft wants theses handhelds to be a success, so it makes sense to put in
the work. But in a world where Xbox home consoles look even more like Windows
PCs, the company might also be making improvements now that it can take
advantage of later.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/microsof...
shader-stutter-193616440.html?src=rss

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