By: Nick Evanson Aug 21, 2007

Now, we don't want to to sound all alarmist or anything like that, but major game engine developers don't see a place for the OpenGL graphics API - the only competitor to Microsoft's DirectX - on the PC platform. When questioned about the future of OpenGL on the PC, a panel of four experts in the engine development industry were rather coy in their responses.

As part of the open discussion about licenced engines at Leipzig GCDC, the talk was supposed to be about the pros and cons of using middleware, and what developers should aim to do to get the best from them. That's why the panel were a little stumped when they were asked the question about whether OpenGL has a future or not.

The response was instant but very telling - the panelists mentioned Mac, Linux and the PS3; OpenGL's heavy use in the academic world was also brought up. However, Mark Rein from Epic Games was particularly ebullient about DX10 and how Microsoft's API has changed over the years. In contrast, criticism was cast at the use of extensions in OpenGL and how slowly it is updated, not to mention that graphics hardware vendors are even slower in sorting out their OpenGL drivers.

So little was actually mentioned, if anything at all, about the future of OpenGL on the PC, leading one to suspect that the big engine developers see no hope for it at all. A certain Mr. Carmack may have something to say about that - but what's one wave in an ocean?

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