Qualcomm's work could reduce Android users' dependence on community-made Mesa Turnip drivers when running Windows games through translation layers. The effort is aimed at more direct DirectX 12 support on Android, and it comes after Geekerwan showed Cyberpunk 2077 and Black Myth: Wukong running on a reference device with Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6.
According to the tests, both games launched successfully in DirectX 12 mode. That is notable because Android users usually rely on community-made Mesa Turnip drivers when they try to run Windows games through translation layers.
Qualcomm has not announced an Android driver yet, and it has not published any performance comparisons. Still, Geekerwan says Qualcomm employees told the channel that the company has already started developing drivers for this use case.
The company already supports DirectX 12 on Snapdragon platforms for Windows PCs, so the Android work would extend an existing technical direction rather than begin from scratch. For now, though, the project remains in development rather than in a consumer release.
If Qualcomm can bring native DirectX 12 support to Android drivers, how much easier could PC-game launches become on Snapdragon devices?
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