A new game launches, the screen says “compiling shaders,” and the wait begins. Or the game starts quickly, only to hitch when a bright spell or unfamiliar scene appears. The culprit is often invisible: before a graphics card can draw an effect, it may need to translate the game’s instructions into a form that works on that particular hardware.
Microsoft’s Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD) is designed to shift some of that work out of the player’s way. Instead of waiting for a PC to compile shaders when a game first runs, compatible shader data can be delivered with the game download. The intriguing idea is simple: prepare the translation before the player presses Start.
Why a graphics card needs a translator
Shaders are small programs that help determine how a game looks: how light falls across a surface, how water reflects its surroundings, or how a burst of fire fills the screen. Developers write them as part of a game, but a PC’s graphics hardware needs instructions suited to its own capabilities and driver.
That translation—compilation—can take time. A game may have many visual effects and combinations of graphics settings, and some work may happen only when a particular effect is encountered. The result can be a long wait on first launch or a brief but jarring stutter during play. It is a mismatch between what players experience as a pause and what the computer is doing: preparing the machinery of the image.
ASD uses state object databases, or SODBs, to help provide that preparation in advance. Developers can collect these databases and upload them to game storefronts, allowing shader compilation to happen as part of delivery rather than being left entirely to the player’s first session. It is a little like downloading a translation alongside a book, instead of stopping to translate each page as you reach it.
From one graphics brand to a wider Windows audience
Microsoft says ASD is now broadly available across Windows devices using graphics hardware from AMD, Intel, Nvidia and Qualcomm. That does not mean every PC game will instantly benefit: developers still need to integrate the technology, and the game and system must meet the requirements.
The supported systems include Windows 11 version 24H2 or later, with compatible graphics hardware and drivers. Microsoft lists AMD RDNA 1 through RDNA 4 GPUs; Intel Arc B-series B570 and B580 cards and Core Ultra Series 2 and 3; all RTX GPUs and RTX Spark; and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 series. Each requires a specified driver version, so an up-to-date driver remains part of the recipe.
Microsoft points to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 as an example of the difference: with ASD, shader compilation at first launch takes a few seconds, compared with several minutes on a typical PC without it. The game requires installation through the Xbox PC app before downloading to experience the feature. ASD had also been announced for Gears of War: E-Day.
The hard part is getting games on board
The next test is reach. ASD is set to expand beyond the Microsoft Store and Xbox PC app to Steam and the Epic Games Store. Epic also plans to add support in a future update for Fortnite. Microsoft says developers using Unreal Engine 5.8.4 can already integrate SODBs, while Unity integration is planned for 2027.
That timeline hints at the less visible challenge: precompilation depends on coordination among game makers, storefronts, graphics hardware and drivers. A graphics card can only use preparation that matches its configuration. Microsoft says an upcoming October Agility SDK release will include “partial programs,” intended to make it more efficient to compile complex state objects across different configurations.
If the approach catches on, the payoff may not be a dramatic new visual effect. It may be the absence of a pause—the game that opens without a lengthy first-run ritual, and the action that stays smooth when a new effect appears. In PC gaming, some of the best engineering is hard to notice. Its success is measured by the moment you don’t have to wait.