Following AMD's decision to put RDNA 1 and 2-based GPUs into "maintenance mode" in order to focus on new features for its more recent graphics technology, the company is backtracking a bit. AMD tells Tom's Hardware that RDNA 1 and 2 won't be left in the dust entirely when it comes to game optimizations. [Edit 11/3/2025: To be clear, AMD gave Tom's Hardware both an on-the-record verbal statement clarifying that day-zero support would be enabled, and also provided the following written statement.]
"New features, bug fixes and game optimizations will continue to be delivered as required by market needs in the maintenance mode branch," an AMD spokesperson told Tom's Hardware.
That's a statement that's likely to confuse some customers, as it's unclear what those "market needs" are. This sounds like new features will still be focused on RDNA 3 and 4-based GPUs, but AMD's clarification is that RDNA 1 and 2 will continue to get day-zero support for games, including on handhelds.
This is meant to clarify a statement from yesterday that read: "In order to focus on optimizing and delivering new and improved technologies for the latest GPUs, AMD Software Adrenalin Edition 25.10.2 places Radeon RX 5000 series and RX 6000 series graphics cards (RDNA 1 and RDNA 2) in maintenance mode. RDNA 1 and RDNA2 graphics cards will continue to receive driver updates for critical security and bug fixes."
That statement, which would apply to a number of fairly recent graphics cards, as well as the integrated graphics in some laptops (like the Ryzen 7000 and 6000 series) and the Asus ROG Xbox Ally handheld (but not the more expensive Xbox Ally X), caused serious blowback among PC gamers and in the enthusiast press.
The Radeon RX 5700 XT and the Radeon RX 5700, which launched in July 2019, are only six years old, while the Radeon 6000 series, including the 6700XT, is still hanging out on the Steam Hardware Survey as of September 2025. The oldest Radeon 6000 cards are five years old. RDNA 2 can also be found in the Steam Deck, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X.
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