AMD finally launches its much-anticipated Mantle API

After a false start or two, AMD is finally getting the first beta of Mantle out the door. With EA DICE having shipped their Mantle patch for Battlefield 4 and developer Oxide having released their Star Swarm technical demo, the first Mantle-enabled applications have landed. Meanwhile AMD for their part is still hammering out an installation issue on their new Mantle-enabled Catalyst drivers, which has led to them missing their previously scheduled January release date.

AMD’s hotly-awaited Mantle API is finally ready for a public unveiling, with new patches and drivers enabling the low-level API going live from today. To start with, anyone wanting to utilize Mantle in a supported game must install the new Catalyst 14.1 beta drivers, which should be available soon (within the next few days) from AMD’s download center. From 4 AM EST, gamers will be able to download a Mantle-enabled patch for Battlefield 4 through EA’s Originservice. At this stage, Battlefield 4 is the only full game that supports Mantle, although Oxide Games Mantle-enabled ‘StarSwarm’ demo will be available through Steam later in the day (3 PM EST) for gamers that want to further evaluate Mantle performance on their systems. Another Mantle-enabled title, Thief, will be released in February.