AMD Catalyst 14.2 Beta focuses on Thief (but lacks Mantle)

In a couple of hours AMD's Catalyst 14.2 Beta will be available for download over here. This new release is all about the new Thief game, it delivers 4K/UHD resolution support and a new shadowing algorithm. Other than that, it also has some improvements for Battlefield 4, including a fix for stuttering issues with Mantle and multi-GPU frame pacing for non-XDMA configurations.

One thing that's missing though is Mantle support for Thief. This seems like a repeat of Battlefield 4, that game was supposed to launch with Mantle support but didn't receive it until late January. According to Eidos, support for AMD TrueAudio and Mantle will be added sometime in March:

THIEF is a showcase for the awesome gaming performance offered by the PC and we’ve worked hard with AMD to accomplish that, by collaborating on the implementation of several PC-specific features. This includes AMD TrueAudio technology, AMD CrossFire™ technology, AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology and more. As you know, THIEF will also be one of the first games to ship that takes advantage of AMD’s Mantle graphics API.

We’re extremely proud of the work we’ve done with AMD to make the PC version of THIEF a stand-out, definitive experience although we have a little more work to do to accommodate all of these new PC-specific features - we are busy working on a patch to support AMD’s Mantle and TrueAudio technologies that is scheduled for March. We’re confident this patch will ensure the best and fastest THIEF experience for AMD Radeon™ customers. We’re sorry we couldn’t bring this to you sooner – although we will use this time to bring you the very best experience possible and will let you know when the patch is ready.

We’re happy to say that the AMD CrossFire™ technology and AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology will be fully functional when THIEF launches on the 25th February in North America and 28th February in Europe and other associated territories.