Troubling Arc Battlemage rumor suggests possible delay or even cancellation of Intel's next-gen GPU architecture

When it comes to discrete GPUs, Intel has Arc Battlemage (Xe2-HPG), Arc Celestial (Xe3-HPG), and Arc Druid (Xe Next) on its product roadmap. Between Intel revealing that Battlemage software is being actively worked on and Battlemage SKUs being spotted online, it could be assumed that the Battlemage is nearing completion and we might be in for a launch later this year.

However, serial Chinese leaker Golden Pig Upgrade claims that “there is no trace of Battlemage at all”, meaning that Intel Arc Battlemage could have been delayed or, worst case, shelved completely. If Arc Battlemage does get delayed or canceled, this would be a major blow to Intel’s GPU ambitions, as the company also struggled to get the first-gen Arc dGPUs out of the door.

Curiously, an Intel Core Ultra 200V Lunar Lake sample leaked late last month with a Battlemage Xe2-LPG iGPU. So, if we combine these two reports, it seems that mobile Battlemage, Xe2-LPG, is on track to be released in laptops later this year but the desktop HPG variant might be delayed.

Additionally, Golden Pig Upgrade also mentions that there will be “no DG3 next year”. This seems to be a mistake, as DG3 refers to Battlemage and not Celestial, the architecture to follow Battlemage. As far as Arc Celestial is concerned, Moore’s Law Is Dead suggested in early 2023 that the Arc Celestial only has one 180 mm2 die which will utilize the TSMC N3X process.

Although the launch of the Arc Alchemist GPUs was rough with bad software, Intel has made great strides with continuous performance and stability updates, bringing out the true potential of the Arc Alchemist cards like the Arc A770 (Buy on Amazon). So, let’s hope Intel’s graphics department can continue this momentum and launches Battlemage on time.