IMG DXT GPU: A Game-Changer for Gaming Smartphones

By Jo Jones

April 1, 2025

Gaming smartphones have become increasingly popular, offering users the ability to enjoy high-quality gaming experiences while on the go.  

To put this growth into context, in 2024, the global games market, including mobile and other platforms, generated more than $187.7 billion in revenue, growing by 2.1% year-over-year according to The Global Games Market Reports 2024. Mobile games accounted for 49% of this revenue, amounting to $92 billion. 

The market is projected to continue growing, with mobile gaming revenue expected to reach $126.06 billion by 2025. This growth is driven by the increasing adoption of smartphones and the rising popularity of mobile games among users worldwide.  

In a recent significant move within the gaming industry, Scopely announced its acquisition of Niantic’s games business, including the globally popular game Pokémon GO, for a staggering $3.5 billion. This acquisition is expected to trigger a wave of M&A activity within the sector, as companies strive to enhance their portfolios and expand their reach in the competitive gaming market.  

At the heart of mobile gaming devices is the graphics processing unit (GPU), which plays a crucial role in delivering smooth and immersive graphics and ultimately, a compelling gaming experience.  

Imagination has a long-standing history of innovation in the GPU and gaming industry, with around 20% of gamers using a device that incorporates our IP. For instance, the IMG PowerVR Series8XE and the IMG BXM-8-256 feature heavily in the market. The IMG DXT continues this legacy, transforming mobile gaming. 

Imagination’s Experience in the Gaming Industry 

Founded in 1985, Imagination has consistently pushed the boundaries of graphics technology. Our PowerVR series of GPUs has been at the forefront of mobile graphics, powering devices from leading global manufacturers such as Samsung, Nokia, Huawei and many more. 

At the cutting-edge of technological features, we have also partnered with key developers on pushing new technologies such as Ray-Tracing. 

Additionally, our rich history of collaboration within the gaming industry has seen our GPUs used in a wide range of gaming devices, from gaming smartphones to iconic handheld consoles such as the SEGA Dreamcast and more recently, the PSP and PSPVita.  

Our commitment to delivering high-performance graphics has made Imagination a trusted partner for game developers and hardware manufacturers alike. Notably, Imagination's PowerVR architecture has been instrumental in bringing desktop-quality visuals to mobile devices. 

Imagination is deeply embedded in the gaming ecosystem, working with top developers, publishers and gaming engines to ensure our technology meets the highest standards of performance and quality. This collaboration has enabled us to deliver cutting-edge graphics solutions that enhance the gaming experience across various platforms.  

The Performance of IMG DXT GPU 

IMG DXT was the first offering released at part of our most recent D-Series GPU IP family. Designed specifically for gaming smartphones, it offers several key advantages: 

• High-Quality Gaming Visuals: The IMG DXT features ray tracing within a low area and power budget, 2D dual-rate texturing, and ASTC HDR support, enabling it to deliver top-class gaming experiences with high-quality visuals 

• Better Battery Life: Through Fragment Shading Rate (FSR) and micro-architectural improvements, the IMG DXT helps preserve battery life, allowing users to enjoy longer gaming sessions without worrying about power consumption 

• Smoother Performance: The IMG DXT boasts 50% more ALU/TPU per SPU, pipelined data masters, ensuring smoother performance on mobile devices 

• Advanced Features: The IMG DXT includes advanced features such as hardware-based virtualisation for secure GPU multitasking, asynchronous compute for simultaneous processing of graphics and compute workloads, and frame buffer compression for bandwidth reduction without compromising display quality. Additionally, it is optimised for Adaptive Performance, which adjusts graphical settings “on-the-fly" based on the phone's conditions, such as high thermals or bottlenecking. 

• Continued Vulkan API Support: Imagination remains committed to supporting the Vulkan API, which is swiftly becoming an industry standard across a wide range of applications, not just limited to gaming. In addition to Vulkan, Imagination also provides support for OpenGL ES and OpenCL, ensuring developers have access to versatile and powerful tools for their projects. 

• Award Winning Developer Tools: Imagination has developed a suite of award-winning developer tools that are designed to enhance the performance and efficiency of their GPUs. These tools include the PowerVR SDK, which has been recognised for its innovative capabilities in low-level performance analysis, debugging, and trace capturing. 

Looking to the future 

The IMG DXT is a game-changer for gaming smartphones. With its advanced features, high-quality visuals, and improved battery life, it offers an unparalleled gaming experience on mobile devices.  

The inclusion of ray tracing technology enhances the realism of in-game lighting and shadows, providing a more immersive experience. Additionally, async compute allows for more efficient processing, leading to smoother gameplay and better performance. Super resolution technology further elevates the visual quality by upscaling lower resolution images to higher resolutions, ensuring crisp and detailed graphics.   

As Imagination continues to innovate and push the boundaries of graphics technology, the future of mobile gaming looks brighter than ever.