In the ever-growing battle between AMD and nVidia, both GPU makers are trying quite hard to secure unique optimization and effects for some of the biggest upcoming games. We already reported on Mantle, the new graphics API developed by AMD in conjunction with DICE, and there have been some rumors indicating that the whole deal costed AMD somewhere around $ 5-8 millions. Interestingly enough, it seems like nVidia made the same kind of deal with Ubisoft: every single game released by the publisher in the holiday season is going to be specifically optimized for nVidia hardware, as proudly shown in this official promotional image.
While looking closer, though, one thing stood out: of all the titles in the slideshow, Watch Dogs is the only one that’s lacking “Tessellation” as an additional effect.
This is particularly weird when you take into account that Tessellation has been, since the very beginning, THE primary effect plugged by developers in their new DX11-powered games. The way I see it, it could be either of two options: a simple mistake on the slideshow, or a deliberate choice from Ubisoft Montreal, albeit an odd one - at least, judging from the outside.
It’s even more interesting if you consider that Tessellation is not a nVidia exclusive and actually, both next generation consoles have their own way to display Tessellation in their games. So, will Watch Dogs have Tessellation in its Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC incarnations? We’ve contacted Ubisoft on the matter.
