Microsoft's Advanced Shader Delivery, which downloads precompiled shaders with supported games, now works on Windows 11 24H2 PCs with AMD, Intel, NVIDIA and Qualcomm graphics. Minimum drivers, games, the Xbox PC app requirement, how to check it is active, and what is still unknown.
Microsoft's Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD) is now broadly available on Windows 11 PCs with AMD, Intel, NVIDIA and Qualcomm graphics, according to the DirectX team's announcement of October 21, 2026. Instead of making your PC compile shaders the first time you start a game, ASD delivers precompiled shaders with the game download. For now it applies to supported games installed through the Xbox PC app or the Microsoft Store; Microsoft says Steam and the Epic Games Store are coming "soon", without a date.
What Advanced Shader Delivery does
Many recent PC games compile their shaders for your graphics card before or during play, which explains the long "optimizing" screens on first launch and some of the stutter you get in the first matches. With ASD, the shaders arrive already compiled with the game. Microsoft says first-launch shader compilation then takes "just a few seconds, compared to several minutes on a typical PC without ASD", about 95% less, and that ASD also reduces shader stutter and power consumption. The technology first launched on the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X handhelds in October 2025, then expanded to other AMD devices in May 2026.
Requirements: Windows 11 24H2 and minimum drivers
Windows: Windows 11 version 24H2 or later.
AMD: RDNA 1, RDNA 2, RDNA 3, RDNA 3.5 and RDNA 4 graphics, with AMD Software Adrenalin 26.6.1 or later.
Intel: Arc B570 and B580, Intel Core Ultra Series 2 and Series 3, with driver 32.0.101.9150 or later.
NVIDIA: all GeForce RTX graphics cards and RTX Spark, with driver 621.01 or later.
Qualcomm: Snapdragon X2 Series, with driver 2026.08.3 or later.
Older GPUs that are not on this list, such as NVIDIA GTX cards, are not listed as supported.
How to use it and check that it works
Install the Xbox PC app before downloading the game: Microsoft repeats this for Gears of War: E-Day and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.
Update your graphics driver to at least the version listed above for your GPU.
Download or reinstall a supported game, then launch it.
Look for the message "Precompiled shaders installed": Microsoft says it appears on the loading or launch screen of supported games when ASD is working (in the bottom-left corner in Modern Warfare 4).
Gears of War: E-Day (from October 1) and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 (from October 21) were the first games to support ASD across the expanded range of PCs. Microsoft's June 11, 2026 list of supported titles also includes games such as Forza Horizon 5 and 6, Avowed, Starfield, Sea of Thieves, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Hogwarts Legacy, Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced, Hades 2, The Outer Worlds 2 and Where Winds Meet. That list was published when ASD still mainly targeted AMD hardware, and Microsoft says more games will be added.
Steam, Epic Games Store and Fortnite: announced, not dated
On October 21, Microsoft announced that ASD will "soon" expand beyond the Microsoft Store and the Xbox PC app to the Epic Games Store and Steam, and that Epic will add ASD support to Fortnite in an upcoming update. As of November 9, 2026, we have not found an official date from Microsoft, Valve or Epic Games for either store or for Fortnite.
What is still unknown (November 9, 2026)
When ASD will be available directly in Steam and the Epic Games Store, and when Fortnite will support it.
An up-to-date, official list of all supported games: the most recent full list we found dates from June 11, 2026.
Exact gains on your own PC: Microsoft's figures (a few seconds instead of several minutes, about 95% less compilation time) come from its own announcements and can vary by game and hardware.
Video
Légende de la vidéo
"Spend Less Time Waiting and More Time Gaming with Advanced Shader Delivery", official Windows YouTube channel, October 14, 2026 (1 min 23 s): Microsoft's short presentation of ASD for Windows 11 players.
Sources
Advanced Shader Delivery is Available Now Across Hardware and Coming Soon to Other Storefronts, DirectX Developer Blog (October 21, 2026): https://devblogs.microsoft.com/directx/advanced-shader-delivery-is-available-now-across-hardware/
Advanced Shader Delivery Coming Soon across Windows 11 and Available for Gears of War: E-Day Today, DirectX Developer Blog (October 1, 2026): https://devblogs.microsoft.com/directx/advanced-shader-delivery-available-for-gears-of-war-e-day-and-coming-soon-across-windows-11/
Expanding Advanced Shader Delivery Support from XBOX Handheld to More AMD Devices, Microsoft Game Dev (June 11, 2026): https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/games/articles/2026/06/expanding-advanced-shader-delivery-support/
What's new in Windows 11: Everyday experiences, reimagined, Windows Experience Blog (October 15, 2026): https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2026/10/15/whats-new-in-windows-11-everyday-experiences-reimagined/
"Spend Less Time Waiting and More Time Gaming with Advanced Shader Delivery", Windows YouTube channel (October 14, 2026): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB3Uao5BsOU
Image: official Advanced Shader Delivery artwork, Microsoft / Xbox Game Dev (ROG Xbox Ally).
Conversation (0).
One account to join conversations across TricknFix.
Log in to participate