With the current generation of gaming consoles having come out back in 2020, reports are now coming out about what we’ll get to see with the next generation of PlayStation and Xbox. According to AMD leaker KeplerL2 on the NeoGAF forums, it looks like, while DirectX 12 Work Graphs is seeing some development for next-gen consoles, it doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing them early in the next consoles’ lives.
For some context Work Graphs is a relatively recent feature that was released as a preview in 2023. The feature largely revolves around making GPU-driven rendering more efficient when it comes to the usage of hardware resources. The feature includes various technologies, including a more efficient scheduler that takes care of data flow and synchronisation, which in turn makes it easier for developers to work with more complex resources like ultra high resolution assets that use technology like Unreal Engine 5’s Nanite.
According to KeplerL2, the advanced feature won’t see adoption early on in the next-generation consoles’ life cycles because it will also be considered a cross-generation period. This means that, while the PS6 might get some games early on, the PS5 will also see the same titles released in the first couple of years of its successor. We saw similar things happen with previous console generations as well, with titles like God of War Ragnarok coming out on the PS4 alongside its planned PS5 release.
KeplerL2 notes that the style of graphics programming currently used in the tools powering game development is procedural generation for a lot of the denser assets – for example hundreds of trees in a forest in an open-world game – and procedural generation isn’t yet supported by Work Graphs.
“WorkGraphs [sic] is of course part of next-gen, but don’t expect too much adoption from devs as the engines/tools they use don’t support this style of graphics programming (procedural generation), specially in the cross-gen period,” wrote KeplerL2.
Rumours have already been going around concerning the hardware specifications that we might see on a handheld variant of the PlayStation 6. According to a report from back in June, the handheld is expected to have 16 GB of RAM, and its AMD chipset will have 4 MB of L2 cache as well as the capability of making use of AMD’s AI-based upscaling technology, likely based on FSR.
“The next OEM handheld APU lineup (if it happens at all, as AMD seems to be losing interest in this market) will be with their next-next-gen lineup in 2029,” wrote KeplerL2 about AMD and Sony’s plans. “The only AMD handheld with AI upscaling anytime soon will be the PlayStation handheld.”
While neither Sony nor Microsoft have made any major announcements regarding their plans for next-gen console hardware, both companies have announced separate partnerships with chip maker AMD that might end up paying dividends for both of their consoles when they are officially announced. Microsoft’s partnership with AMD revolves around development of new hardware, while Sony’s partnership with the chip maker revolves around improving PSSR through FSR.
