Stormrise, a new RTS from Creative Assembly, is coming to consoles. No problems there. But it's also coming to the PC, and when it does, you better hope you're not still rocking Windows XP.
Why? Because the game will only run under DirectX 10, which will only run under Windows Vista. Lead designer Artem Kulakov explains:
DX10 has offered a lot of advantages over DX9. First of all, DirectX 10 allowed us to simplify the rendering engine. It matches capabilities of next generation consoles better than DX9, which is important for us considering that Stormrise is a multi-platform title. We had fewer driver-specific compatibility issues with Stormrise compare to our previous games released with DX9.
Of course, it won't officially run under XP. We're sure someone will find a workaround. Provided, that is, those kind of people aren't too busy playing that other Creative Assembly strategy game that came out this week...
On the subject, how many of you are still soldiering on with XP as we roll into 2009, over seven years since the OS was first released?
Stormrise first DX10 only game - Interview with Lead Designer [PC Games Hardware]