Valve embraces Vulkan with new Dota 2 beta update

Three months after OpenGL successor Vulkan made its formal debut, Valve has become one of the first developers to actually support the cross-platform open graphics API by patching it into Dota 2.

The patch itself is optional and very much in beta -- Dota 2 players who want to play the Vulkan version of the game (downloaded as Dota 2 DLC) must opt in to a beta version of the game, and Valve has established a standalone tracker on GitHub for reporting issues with the new version. 

Still, it's a notable effort by a major game industry player to embrace the nascent graphics tech. Valve isn't alone on this front either, as the developers of Ashes of the Singularity, Doom and more are working on integrating Vulkan support into their games. 

Croatian indie developer Croteam proved a bit of a bellwether on this front, having patched Vulkan support into its 2014 puzzle game The Talos Principle as a "proof of concept" back in February, when Vulkan 1.0 was released.