Cross-platform 3DMARK Steel Nomad Benchmark Delayed

3DMARK Steel Nomad has been delayed until Q2 2024

UL Benchmarks has confirmed that their upcoming cross-platform gaming benchmark, Steel Nomad, has been delayed. Steel Nomad is a new gaming benchmark that does not include ray tracing, acting as a replacement for 3DMARK Time Spy and Time Spy Extreme. The new benchmark should now launch in April 2024.

Steel Nomad will be free to all owners of 3DMARK, and will be the company’s most intensive non-raytracing benchmark. The tool will support Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, and Android. At launch, the benchmark will only support Windows and Windows-on-ARM, with support for other OS’ arriving later in 2024.

UL Benchmarks has stated that it has taken more time than expected to get feedback from industry partners. UL Benchmarks wants to improve their planned Steel Nomad benchmark with the input of their partners, as they want to avoid large post-launch benchmark updates. Score-altering patches are not desirable for a benchmarking utility, and UL want their new 3DMARK test to test all platforms fairly.

Below is what UL Benchmarks had to say about the delay on Steam;

We’re nearly there, but there’s a slight delay for Steel Nomad and Steel Nomad Light. The launch is shifting from the end of Q1 to the start of Q2, and is now probably in April 2024. Getting things right for fair cross-platform comparison when working with feedback from multiple industry partners sometimes takes longer than expected. Unlike with games, patching benchmark tests after launch in a way that affects scoring is really undesirable, so we’re taking extra care to have a test that will stand the test of time.

Why does 3DMARK Steel Nomad exist?

3DMARK Steel Nomad will arrive in two forms, Steel Nomad and Steel Nomad Light. Steel Nomad is for high-end PCs and laptops using Windows, macOS, and Linux. Steel Nomad Light is for thin and light devices using Windows-on-ARM, Apple Silicon, iOS, or Android.

While ray tracing has become increasingly common in games, Steel Nomad avoids this technology entirely. Gaming performance outside of ray tracing remains an important factor for gamers and analysts. This is why 3DMARK needs a new non-raytraced benchmark. The growing popularity of Linux gaming PCs like Valve’s Steam Deck has also created the need for a multi-platform gaming benchmark.

Steel Nomad will sit alongside Port Royal, Speed Way, and Solar Bay. This gives gamers a suite of tests to cover all modern gaming scenarios. This includes no raytracing, light raytracing, and heavy raytracing workloads. All of these new benchmarking tools have been released fairly recently, and that gives reviewers and hardware enthusiasts a suite of new tools to compare their systems with others.

You can join the discussion on 3DMARK Steel Nomad’s delay on the OC3D Forums.