Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) is continuing their work on their upcoming space-themed MMO (massive multiplayer online), Star Citizen. In a recent post on their official blog, the developers have announced that they are switching APIs (application program interface) from the popular DirectX 12 to Khronos Group’s Vulkan.

CIG was developing Star Citizen on DirectX 11 with the expectation to support DirectX 12 upon release. Vulkan facilitates single-API support for older version of Windows without forfeiting performance and features. It seems the developers are now moving completely away from DirectX in favor of Khronos Group’s API. Developer Ali Brown stated:

“Years ago we stated our intention to support DX12, but since the introduction of Vulkan which has the same feature set and performance advantages this seemed a much more logical rendering API to use as it doesn’t force our users to upgrade to Windows 10 and opens the door for a single graphics API that could be used on all Windows 7, 8, 10 & Linux.”

Microsoft has been sort of forcing their Windows 10 operating system on everyone. For the first year of its release, Microsoft offered a free upgrade to Windows 10 to all Windows users, even if their older versions weren’t verified or legal. Many people prefer the older versions of Windows, and Brown and CIG seem to want to make sure their game gets played, no matter which operating system players prefer. Many developers are still using DirectX11, but DirectX12 forces users to have Windows 10, which many companies like Cloud Imperium Games aren’t too fond of.

Star Citizen has no official release date as of yet, but rest assured that the developers are hard at work to bring the multiplayer space simulator to your PCs. What do you think of the API switch from DirectX to Vulkan? Are you excited to play Star Citizen? Let us know in the comments section below, or head on over to our official Disqus channel to talk about it with fellow DFTG readers as well as our staff. Be sure to follow us on Twitter to catch the hottest gaming and entertainment news 24/7.