Vulkan API is officially confirmed

https://www.khronos.org/vulkan

"Vulkan is the new generation, open standard API for high-efficiency access to graphics and compute on modern GPUs. This ground-up design, previously referred to as the Next Generation OpenGL Initiative, provides applications direct control over GPU acceleration for maximized performance and predictability."

The next evolution for an open source API is here, and it's called Vulkan, from the developers of OpenGL

Vulkan already has different gpu, cpu and game manufacturers on board. And ofcourse, the Steam OS.

Jesus, look at that list of partners. That's mighty impressive.

My gods. A thing.

Interesting development. Heavyweight list of backers too.

I wonder how it will compare to DX because ever since DX9 OpenGL has always been behind. And why the fancy name anyway? Why not just call it by its real name, OpenGL 5.0.

Things and Stuffs!!!!!!!! Wow wow wee wow

@musicalmac Like I've been saying, Apple will either abandon Metal or fragment themselves from the market. Considering they're on board with Vulkan and it offers compatibility with OpenGL ES 3.1 devices (Apple A7, A8, A8X), I think it's easy to see which direction they'll choose. Of course that compatibility is still limited to OpenGL ES 3.1 equivalent features, which can also be said about the current version of Metal.

EDIT:

I found this slide to be rather amusing:

Fragment it is.

Well that is an impressive list of participants, let's see what they come up with.

@NVIDIATI: We'll see. I find it strange that Apple would have invested in developing Metal with this sort of thing in the near future unless they had a good reason to do so. Apple doesn't typically play for the short game, they typically make plays for the long game.

All the money is on Apple's platform right now, something we shouldn't forget.

yes it is

Metal was there to fill a void when Imagination Technologies fell behind the competition in terms of API and feature support (2 years behind Intel, 1.5 years behind NVIDIA and 1 year behind the rest).

Not where gaming, this API and the companies backing it are concerned.

The fatc that it's compatible with windows is perfect.

Really looking forward to seeing some benchmarks between dx12 and vulkan

@NVIDIATI: Being that Apple is a part of this, it's no doubt they knew it was coming. Gaming on iOS devices wasn't really a problem before, so investing in a low-level API is intriguing. Especially in light of this news.

Here's to hoping it delivers us from evil.