Microsoft's Advanced Shader Delivery is now available more broadly on Windows 11 PCs with AMD Radeon graphics, giving supported Xbox PC app games a way to skip some of the shader work that often causes long first launches and stutter on PC.

The feature, detailed in an updated DirectX Developer Blog post, delivers precompiled shaders when a game is downloaded. Instead of making every PC compile the same shader data locally, Microsoft can package that work for a player's hardware and driver setup through the Xbox PC app.

The AMD rollout covers discrete Radeon GPUs and gaming laptop integrated GPUs based on RDNA architecture. Microsoft lists RDNA 1, RDNA 2, RDNA 3, RDNA 3.5 and RDNA 4 as supported, which brings the feature down to Radeon RX 5000-series cards on the desktop side. Players also need Windows 11 version 24H2 or newer, Xbox Gaming Services 37.113.11003.0 or higher and AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.6.1 or later.

Advanced Shader Delivery targets a common PC pain point

Shader compilation has been a regular source of frustration in PC games, especially in large DirectX 12 releases. A game may need to compile graphics shaders during its first launch or while playing, which can mean a long loading screen, hitching during gameplay or fresh stutter after a driver update resets the cache.

Microsoft says Advanced Shader Delivery moves that expensive step into the cloud. Developers provide a State Object Database through Xbox Partner Center, then Microsoft and hardware partners use it to generate a precompiled shader package that can be delivered with the game.

The sharpest example in Microsoft's post is Forza Horizon 6. On a PC with a Ryzen 7 5800 CPU and Radeon RX 7600 GPU, Microsoft says the game's loading time dropped from almost 1.5 minutes to 4 seconds, a 95% reduction. The company also says Advanced Shader Delivery can reduce shader stutter by avoiding just-in-time shader compilation during play.

Support is not universal across every PC game. It applies to games distributed through the Xbox PC app that have been prepared for the system. Microsoft's supported list currently includes games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Resident Evil 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered and The Outer Worlds 2.

AMD's own 26.6.1 driver notes confirm the new driver package supports a wide spread of Radeon RX 5000, 6000, 7000 and 9000-series desktop graphics products, plus several mobile Radeon RX families. Microsoft first launched Advanced Shader Delivery on ROG Xbox Ally handhelds in 2025, then outlined broader PC plans at GDC 2026.

Other GPU vendors are still part of the longer rollout. In March, Nvidia said it was working with Microsoft to bring Advanced Shader Delivery to GeForce RTX users later in 2026, while Intel and Qualcomm also described support plans for their own hardware. Microsoft says more Windows devices and other IHV hardware will be enabled in the coming months.