Microsoft’s Tech That Speeds Up Game Launches to Seconds Is Now Working on AMD Graphics Cards

Microsoft has expanded its public preview of Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD) to include desktops and laptops with AMD graphics. Previously, the solution only worked on handhelds like the ROG Ally, but now owners of discrete and integrated GPUs based on RDNA 3, RDNA 3.5, and RDNA 4 architectures can give near-instant loading a try.

The core idea of ASD isn’t about local hardware optimizations, but moving shader compilation to the cloud. Instead of processing shaders in real time while playing and suffering those all-too-familiar micro-stutters, the system downloads a ready-made package of instrumented code while you’re downloading the game itself. This eliminates one of the biggest causes of stutters on PC, and the first launch no longer feels like an endless wait.

A good example is Forza Horizon 6. According to Microsoft’s internal tests on a system with a Ryzen 7 5800 CPU and a Radeon RX 7600 GPU, the game took about a minute and a half to load without ASD. After enabling the feature, the startup time dropped to just four seconds — a roughly 95% reduction. That not only backs up the developers' claims but is also a pretty serious advantage for anyone who values getting into the action fast.

For now, the feature is only available to participants of the PC Gaming Preview program via the Xbox Insider Hub. You’ll need Windows 11 version 24H2 or newer, Xbox Gaming Services no earlier than 37.113.11003.0, and Adrenalin graphics driver 26.5.2 or later. The list of compatible GPUs is currently limited to the RDNA generations mentioned above, but Microsoft has already announced plans to expand support — in the coming months, they’re promising to add compatibility for hardware from other vendors.

For game developers, Microsoft recommends integrating ASD using the latest Agility SDK and uploading shader databases via Xbox Partner Center. In other words, the tooling for studios is already ready, and future releases could potentially eliminate long compilation delays at startup. That said, this is still a preview version, and stability across the entire range of compatible devices will need to be vetted through wider testing.

Would you want to try Advanced Shader Delivery on your system, and which games do you think would benefit the most from this kind of tech? Let us know in the comments.