Microsoft have announced their Game Stack Live digital event will return this year, with the company promising to show off DirectX innovations, including a new DirectX PC HDR standard, a version of the Xbox Series X/S SDD Velocity Architecture for PCs, and more.

　　For those unfamiliar, Microsoft Game Stack brings all the company's development platforms and tools, including Xbox Live, Azure, PlayFab, DirectX, Mixer, Virtual Studio, and Simplygon, together under one umbrella to make game development easier. So, Game Stack Live is mainly going to be of interest to those actually making games, but the event should provide plenty of info about the future of PC gaming and graphics that might excite a wider audience. Here’s a few interesting-sounding sessions planned for the event…

　　Graphics Keynote: Delivering the New Generation of Gaming Graphics - New consoles and graphics cards usher in a new wave of more immersive video games. In this session, we will cover the latest innovations to our graphics platform, making it easier for game developers to push the limits of graphics on both PC and Xbox with DirectX, HLSL, PIX, HDR, and more.Accelerating DirectX Innovation - The DirectX team has been working on a way to change the game for developers who want to be on the bleeding edge of graphics. We're finally ready to show the world how we're pushing the envelope with an exciting new update.What's New with High Dynamic Range in DirectX Games​ - High Dynamic Range (HDR) is part of the gold standard for the newest generation of graphically rich games. In this talk, you'll learn about our ongoing work to improve DirectX's HDR support on PCs. We are helping to solve the problem of HDR display ecosystem variability, providing best practices for optimizing your native HDR implementations for displays, and working on exciting new technology to extend the reach of HDR PC gaming.​DirectStorage for Windows - Microsoft is excited to bring DirectStorage, an API in the DirectX family originally designed for the Velocity Architecture to Windows PCs! DirectStorage will bring best-in-class IO tech to both PC and console just as DirectX 12 Ultimate does with rendering tech. With a DirectStorage capable PC and a DirectStorage enabled game, you can look forward to vastly reduced load times and virtual worlds that are more expansive and detailed than ever. In this session, we will be discussing the details of this technology will help you build your next-generation PC games.You can check out a full listing off all Game Stack Live panels and register to tune in, right here.

　　Microsoft Game Stack Live takes place on April 21 and 22. What do you PC players think? Anything you’re particularly interested in hearing about?