IN A NUTSHELL: Forza Horizon 6 is the first title to support Microsoft's Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD) tech on most Windows 11 PCs. Users with recent Radeon graphics cards who join the company's Xbox Insider program can now try the feature, which circumvents the need to compile shaders after starting the game.
When Microsoft introduced ASD last year, it was restricted to Asus Xbox ROG Ally devices, but Turn 10 Studios' new racing title brings the feature to standard Windows 11 PCs. Currently, ASD only supports RDNA 3, RDNA 3.5, and RDNA 4 GPUs and integrated graphics, but Nvidia RTX hardware will receive support later this year.
ASD dramatically shortens the long load times users often experience when starting a freshly installed game or booting a game after updating their GPU drivers. Many recent titles employ a complex web of shaders that developers previously could not compile for the near-infinite variety of PC configurations, forcing users to choose between lengthy local compilation or unstable performance.
Also Read: Shader Compilation and Why It Causes Stuttering, Explained
Microsoft addressed the problem by reorganizing shader categorization to store pre-compiled shaders in the cloud. Users can download the shaders during installation or after updating drivers, significantly reducing startup time.
