AMD is double-dipping with a new partnership to build game streaming tech

[Matrix]

They're building custom hardware and software to take advantage of the platform

 

 

 

Forward-looking: AMD has entered into a multi-year partnership with Oxide Games with the aim to make game streaming simpler and more economical, but details on practical hardware/software alterations are light. It is apparent, however, that there is room for improvement. Given the current disparity between the on-paper specs and real-world performance of streaming services, a new technical foundation could make the value proposition of game streaming equal to competing platforms.

Game streaming has the potential to replace consoles as the go-to gaming platform, or otherwise alter their market position. Some predict streaming could also eat into the PC gaming market. Unsurprisingly, noting that AMD makes all the CPUs and GPUs used in consoles and about half of those used in gaming PCs, they have expressed interest in the game streaming space.

 

AMD also currently produces the GPUs for Google Stadia and Microsoft xCloud. That position is not well-cemented, however, as both services use only slightly altered PC products that cannot be made in great volume. Further development into game streaming is a logical way for AMD to win no matter the shape of future gaming.

 

AMD’s new partner is, however, an unconventional choice. Oxide Games have yet to justify the plural form of their name, having only released one complete game, Ashes of the Singularity. More significant, however, is their Nitrous Engine. Nitrous has been impressive in its limited release this far. Ashes, using Nitrous, was the first game to support DirectX 12 and one of the first to support Vulkan. The game also introduced unprecedented technical capability in the real-time strategy genre, able to support far more active units engaged across diverse environments that other games can manage.

 

 

Ashes of the Singularity benchmarked about two years ago. It is one of very few, very interesting games where spending more on a CPU past the few hundred dollar mark actually nets you better performance, with some exceptions.

 

“Oxide’s motto is to bring games to life that have never been seen or experienced before. We built the Nitrous Engine specifically with that purpose in mind,” said Marc Meyer, president of Oxide Games. “AMD’s commitment to gamers and their leadership in pushing the edge of state-of-the-art hardware is a perfect complement to Oxide’s commitment to the same excellence in software.”

 

The Nitrous Engine also scales better across more cores than most other engines. High core count, low-frequency CPUs are also the most economical processors found in servers today. Pairing optimal hardware with the software that can best take advantage of it is logical -- but adding that to AMD’s substantial lead in the high core count CPU space is a checkmate move.

 

Source

[zanderthunder]

AMD Partners Up With Oxide Games; Aims To Build Own Game Streaming Technology

 

 

AMD recently entered into a multi-year partnership with Oxide Game with one goal in mind: to design its own game streaming technology and to make the process simple, more efficient, and more cost-effective.

If the name Oxide Games rings a bell, it’s probably because the studio is known among gamers as the studio that made the real-time strategy (RTS) Ashes of the Singularity and its Nitrous Engine. More importantly, the title was one of the very first to adopt and support AMD’s Vulkan API technology and DirectX 12. When they were first released.

 

AMD is clearly double-dipping into what is already considered to be one of the fastest growing spaces in gaming. As it stands, the company’s Radeon GPU with RDNA architecture already powers both Google Stadia and Microsoft’s xCloud. On top of that, it’s also designed and provided components to both Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 5 (PS5) and Microsoft’s XBox Series X consoles.

Sadly, there still isn’t a great deal of information as to how AMD intends to make its game streaming technology, or what first steps it plans to make with Oxide Games to get the ball rolling. It also didn’t specify any timeline for availability or launch of said technology.

 

Source:

1. AMD Partners Up With Oxide Games; Aims To Build Own Game Streaming Technology (via Lowyat.NET) - main article

2. AMD and Oxide Games Join Forces to Advance Cloud Gaming Graphics (via AMD) - press release and 1st supporting reference for main article

3. AMD and Oxide Games Join Forces to Advance Cloud Gaming Graphics (via Guru3D) - 2nd supporting reference for main article