Intel has confirmed that it has dropped native DirectX 9 or Direct3D 9 (D3DX9) on its Xe graphics architecture. However, the company has assured that games and applications based on it can still run using the D3D9On12 mapping layer.
"Xe" is the graphics architecture brand that Intel introduced with its 11th Gen Tiger Lake chips, and it has continued releasing updates to Xe since then. The upcoming Arc discrete graphics, for example, is based on the Xe HPG variation.
Here is what the company writes on its bulletin which clarifies DirectX 9 support on existing and upcoming Intel products:
12th generation Intel processor"s integrated GPU and Arc discrete GPU no longer support D3D9 natively. Applications and games based on DirectX 9 can still work through Microsoft* D3D9On12 interface.
The integrated GPU on 11th generation and older Intel processors supports DX9 natively, but they can be combined with Arc graphics cards. If so, rendering is likely to be handled by the card and not the iGPU (unless the card is disabled). Thus, the system will be using DX9On12 instead of DX9.
Although Intel does not explicitly state that its upcoming 13th Gen Raptor Lake graphics will lack native DX9 support, the scenario seems pretty certain as Raptor Lake is also expected to be based on the Xe LP architecture. Meanwhile, the14th Gen Meteor Lake family allegedly features a new Xe LPG design.
Source: Intel