In February, Microsoft confirmed that it had no plans to make future versions of its XNA Game Studio development tools. However, it refuted reports that it had plans to stop development of its DirectX graphics API. Now the company is doing so again in the wake of new statements from an AMD executive.
The German language-based Heise Online, in an interview this week with AMD Corporate Vice President Roy Taylor, quoted him as saying (translated):
... the computer industry has benefited for many years from a continuous renewal of the DirectX interface. A new DirectX has refreshed the industry again and again, new graphics cards needed stronger processors and more RAM. But there will be no DirectX 12. That was it. As far as we know there are no plans for DirectX 12. If this should not be, and someone wants to correct me – wonderful.
Well, Mr. Taylor, consider yourself corrected. Neowin contacted Microsoft for comment and received this response from a spokesperson:
DirectX is the world’s leading low-level interface for gaming and graphics. Microsoft is actively investing in DirectX as the unified graphics foundation for all of our platforms, including Windows, Xbox 360, and Windows Phone. DirectX is evolving and will continue to evolve. We have absolutely no intention of stopping innovation with DirectX.
Microsoft"s latest version of the API was DirectX 11.1, which was shipped as part of Windows 8.