No. 24 of 27 ·Game Compatibility Layers

VKD3D

Windows · Mac · Linux

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Freedom report

One barScore 5.1

Free tierNo free tier on record
Open codeNo open-source code on record
Runs widely3 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedThinly documented

VKD3D is ranked #24 of 27 in game compatibility layers on Freedom251. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.

Compared on game compatibility layers

Runtime model: translation + runtime
DirectX support: directx 12
Vulkan support: Yes
Anti-cheat status: not stated

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The record

Purpose: VKD3D is a set of libraries and tools for porting Direct3D applications to other platforms.
Graphics backend: Its low-level Direct3D 12 implementation is built on Vulkan.
Shader translation: The shader library translates among formats including HLSL, DXIL, DXBC, SPIR-V, and Direct3D shader formats.
Shader outputs: GLSL and Metal Shading Language output are described as works in progress and are not considered ready for release.
Developer tools: VKD3D includes a command-line HLSL shader compiler and a utility for inspecting and manipulating DXBC.
Application integration: The utilities library provides familiar Direct3D entry points such as D3D12CreateDevice() and D3DCompile().
Windowing limitation: VKD3D does not implement DXGI interfaces for adapter enumeration, swapchains, or windowing; applications must provide these or use a library such as GLFW, SDL, or Qt.
Platform examples: The project describes porting Direct3D applications to Vulkan or OpenGL on Linux and Metal on macOS.
License: The project is made available under the GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1 or later.
Build requirements: Building requires SPIRV-Headers, Vulkan-Headers version 1.3.228 or later, Perl, and libjson-perl.
Development and CI: The project says development takes place on Wine GitLab, where merge requests are automatically tested with GitLab CI.
Debug interface: The project says its environment variables are mostly for debugging and are not a stable interface, so they may change or be removed.

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Best Game Compatibility Layers in 2026#24 of 27

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Sources

repo.or.cz/vkd3d.git· checked 4 Oct 2026