GeForce 621.01 adds Advanced Shader Delivery: check the game and storefront

Nvidia's GeForce 621.01 driver adds support for Microsoft's Advanced Shader Delivery, which can deliver prepared shaders with a game download. Installing the driver is one requirement. The game and storefront must also participate, so this is not an automatic change to every title in an RTX owner's library.

Microsoft announced the wider Windows rollout on October 21, 2026, the day The Verge reported Nvidia's support. Nvidia's driver article is dated October 20 and identifies 621.01 as the relevant package. The publication dates establish the announcement sequence, rather than a universal game-update date.

The download carries more than game files

A shader is a program used in producing the graphics on screen. Preparing shaders for a particular GPU and driver can make a game spend time compiling before play or during it. Microsoft's technical overview describes moving that preparation ahead of delivery.

The developer creates a State Object Database describing the game's shader work. The pipeline compiles a Precompiled Shader Database, which the storefront distributes. Nvidia describes a database tailored to the player's hardware and driver arriving through the Xbox PC app. The useful change is where the preparation happens; the PC still needs the right files for its configuration.

Four checks before expecting a shorter first launch

Microsoft's October 21 requirements give an RTX owner a concrete checklist:

• Windows: Windows 11 version 24H2 or later.

• Driver: GeForce 621.01 or later; Microsoft's supported hardware list includes RTX GPUs and RTX Spark.

• Game: an integrated title. Nvidia names Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 and Gears of War: E-Day as examples.

• Distribution: the supported Microsoft Store/Xbox PC app route. Microsoft specifically says to install the Xbox PC app before downloading Modern Warfare 4 to experience ASD.

Microsoft describes Steam and Epic Games Store support as forthcoming. Its announcement does not establish a delivery date for those storefronts, and buying the same game elsewhere does not by itself establish this download path.

Loading work and frame rendering solve different problems

ASD addresses shader preparation. Image reconstruction, such as the separately announced FSR 4.1 expansion, changes another part of the graphics workload. A shorter shader wait does not establish a higher sustained frame rate or eliminate every cause of uneven frame delivery.

Microsoft and Nvidia describe reduced loading and shader-compilation interruptions. TechKili has not measured those benefits. For a supported game, use its documented download route and check the result on the existing PC before treating a broad driver announcement as a reason to change hardware.

Sources

• Nvidia: GeForce 621.01 and Advanced Shader Delivery

• Microsoft: October 21 rollout and requirements

• Microsoft Learn: shader preparation and distribution

• The Verge: October 21 discovery report