Cyberpunk 2077 Will Only Work on DirectX 12

The system requirements of Cyberpunk 2077 have not been disclosed yet, but PC Games Hardware talked to a graphics specialist from CD Projekt RED and got some technical details.

The big reveal is that Cyberpunk 2077 will only work on DirectX 12. This imposes certain limitations on the PC configuration: DX12 is supported only on Windows 7 (with SP1 update) and Windows 10. If you have Windows 8 or 8.1, there’s no chance to play the game — DX12 has not appeared there.

According to leading graphics programmer Marcin Gollent, CDPR chose DX12 for two main reasons. First, this API is the standard for Xbox platforms, which had a good impact on the production of the Xbox One version. Secondly, DX12 is the birthplace of the DirectX Raytracing method. CDPR had plans for DXR at a very early stage of the technology’s development.

Whether ray-tracing will appear in the next-gen version of Cyberpunk 2077, the company is not ready to say yet. At the time of release, the game will run on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in backwards compatibility mode, and the next-generation console versions will be updated later.

CDPR believes in a bright future of ray-tracing: the technology will at least simplify the construction of worlds and will help light experts get rid of a lot of small technical junk that distracts developers from more fundamental creative problems. You can learn about how ray-tracing transforms the CP2077 PC version here.