'Dota 2' Finally Gets A Vulkan DLC Update; How To Download, What To Expect

Valve recently introduced the new Vulkan graphics API to Steam's most popular game, "Dota 2." Vulkan is an open rival to Direct X 12 by Microsoft and will be found in the game's DLC section on Steam.

Valve featured the Vulkan beta update to "Dota 2," the most-played game on Steam and the company's highly popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) title. Vulkan is currently in beta mode so players should expect a number of issues to surface. According to Valve, gamers may notice some short stuttering during startup due to the shader caching issue. Linux players using Nvidia graphics cards may notice some screen tearing, even with VSync turned on.

PCWorld revealed that players will have to enable the Vulkangraphics API with the -vulkan flag in the launch options. Furthermore, they have to remove DirectX and OpenGL flags when these are spotted. Players also have to run the Steam Client Beta to acquire the Vulkan version of the Steam Overlay. Valve has provided instructions on how to do the process.

Valve obviously has an interest in promoting Vulkan, because it aids in its Steam Machines objectives. Currently Microsoft's DirectX works on Windows and is the most used graphics API, while other platforms have to rely on OpenGL, which is already old. Vulkan is the successor of OpenGL and will provide the opportunity to allow more games to be played on Linux-powered Steam Machines.

Third-party developers are expected to add Vulkan support to PC games, which will determine whether it is truly a reliable graphics API for the long term. More games are expected to feature Vulkan support to their PC versions in the following weeks.

Tom's Hardware noted that in February 2016, the Kronos Group launched the open source Vulkan API, which promises to deliver enhanced graphics performance. Since its release, there have been news of different support levels for the graphics API.

Nvidia provided Vulkan support to its GeForce drivers, AMD provided Vulkan support to its Radeon Software Crimson driver suit, Kishonti added Vulkan support to its GFXBench 5.0, Imagination added Vulkan support to its PowerVR SDK and a beta driver for Intel HD graphics was also introduced. Nvidia also featured a video of "Doom" running on Vulkan instead of OpenGL, which was quite impressive.

So far, "Dota 2" is the first game available to the public at present with Vulkan support. More updates and details on Vulkan support in "Dota 2" are expected soon.