ArenaNet has some interesting news for fans of Guild Wars 2. The studio has just revealed its plans to change the minimum system requirements for its popular free-to-play, massively multiplayer online role-playing game.
The developers are confident that the upcoming changes would significantly improve the game’s graphic fidelity over time. Basically, the game will soon support DirectX 11, completely removing the DirectX 9 support from the picture.
ArenaNet plans to start implementing changes come February 6, albeit gradually, rolling out other updates over the subsequent eight weeks. By April 18, fans and players alike of Guild Wars 2 will be carried over to the DirectX 11 client, and as soon as the update gets completed, they can no longer launch the game using DirectX 9.
It is worth noting that most GPUs support DirectX 11, since it was released in 2009. As for players who own systems that cannot run DirectX 11, they have two options. First, they can just replace their GPU. Second, they need to utilize a cloud gaming service to continue playing the game, including NVIDIA GeForce NOW.
If you are not certain that your GPU can run DirectX 11, here is how you can check your rig’s compatibility. Just follow the steps below:
- Enter “dxdiag” into the taskbar search box.
- Select dxdiag from the results.
- Click on the “Display 1” tab in the diagnostic tool when it pops up.
- Under the “Drivers” section on the right, read the numbers in the “Feature Levels.”
- If this list contains the number “11_0” or higher, the computer’s GPU is DirectX 11-compatible.
The upcoming graphical update will give the developers the opportunity to improve Guild Wars 2 gradually. While many would agree that it is a beautiful game on its own, its graphics are just far from being cutting-edge. Keep in mind that GW2 has been here for 10 years now. By moving away from DirectX 9, the game will finally be able to take advantage of more modern rendering features.
