Watch Dogs 2 PC Uses DirectX 12, Optimized for AMD GPUs

Watch Dogs 2 was announced last month, and now we're learning more information about it, specifically around the PC edition. AMD's Roy Taylor says on Twitter that the sequel will make use of DirectX 12 and that, overall, the game will be "highly optimized" for AMD GPUs.

As DSOGaming points out, this is something of a change of form for the open-world franchise. The 2014 original Watch Dogs made use of Nvidia's GameWorks, a toolset developers can use when building their games. Things even got heated between Nvidia and AMD over this point.

"GameWorks represents a clear and present threat to gamers by deliberately crippling performance on AMD products (40% of the market) to widen the margin in favor of Nvidia products," AMD's Robert Hallock told Forbes in 2014. "Participation in the GameWorks program often precludes the developer from accepting AMD suggestions that would improve performance directly in the game code--the most desirable form of optimization."

Nvidia responded to AMD's allegations, denying much of what it had to say. Also speaking with Forbes, Nvidia's Cem Cebenoyan stated there's nothing in GameWorks that deliberately harms AMD performance. He also denied AMD's assertion that using GameWorks means developers can't accept AMD suggestions.

There is no word yet on the nature of extent of Watch Dogs 2's use of DirectX 12 or its optimizations for AMD GPUs. We'll report back when new information becomes available.

Watch Dogs 2 was announced as part of an Ubisoft earnings briefing in February this year. The game is officially scheduled to launch before the end of April 2017. According to Kotaku, it could come out this year.

The first Watch Dogs shipped more than 9 million copies, and its creative director has been vocal about what he would like to do with the franchise next.

There are no gameplay or story details at this point regarding Watch Dogs 2, but a recent report claimed the game would be set in San Francisco. The first one took place in Chicago.