Intel CEO sees 'less need for discrete graphics' and now we're really worried about its upcoming Battlemage gaming GPU and the rest of Intel's graphics roadmap

pcgamer.com:

Is Intel's nascent Arc gaming graphics for the chop? That's now our fear following comments from Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger. Put simply, Gelsinger sees «less need for discrete graphics in the market going forward». Yikes.

Instead, in last week's quarterly grilling with the usual Wallstreet suspects, Gelsinger said Intel's focus with graphics will increasingly become what he described as «large integrated graphics capabilities». In other words, graphics built into CPUs, not proper gaming graphics cards.

This hardly bodes well for Intel's Arc gaming graphics roadmaps, which supposedly includes the Battlemage follow up to Intel's first-gen Arc GPUs, codenamed Alchemist, with the Celestial and Druid generations to follow.

Of course, you could argue that «less need» doesn't mean no need. But in the context of Intel's widespread struggles, the brutal cost slashing exercise Gelsinger is currently engaged in including huge staff layoffs, these comments make for ominous reading. It's certainly hard to imagine that Intel remains committed to that multi-generational discrete gaming GPU roadmap.

Indeed, there have been rumours for some time that Intel's commitment to Arc has been wavering for some time. But it's equally possible that the loss of faith in Arc in much more recent.

It's also worth noting that these «large» integrated GPUs could be interesting in themselves. An integrated GPU with performance on par with a decent mid-range discrete GPU would be something, right? Of course, maybe Gelsigner's idea of a «large» iGPU is what Intel is already doing with Lunar Lake, in which case it's all rather less interesting.

Anyway, our best guess is that we'll still see Battlemage-based gaming graphics cards early in the new year. Most likely, the vast majority of the money needed to bring Battlemage to market has already been spent. Intel might even have a pile of GPUs pre-manufactured and ready to go into cards.

Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as