Is it reasonable to target OpenGL 3.2 in modern games?

Question

I'm currently working on a game/engine that uses OpenGL for rendering, and recently have begun phasing out support for the fixed-function pipeline. I could target 2.1, however I would like to use tessellation or geometry shaders and various newer GLSL features that don't exist in 2.1.

Considering that the game will not be ready to be released for at least another year, would it be reasonable to target 3.2 as a minimum base?

Note that this game does take advantage of newer features such as MRT framebuffers for deferred lighting, etc, and I don't intend on supporting fixed-function hardware at all. So it's either 2.1 or 3.2, and I'm leaning towards 3.2. Does anyone know a very rough figure of how many people have 3.2 compatible cards and the rate at which they are being adopted?

Bilabiate

Answer 1

I'd say that users of Valve's Steam covers a considerable percentage of the PC gaming population, in which case, the Steam Hardware and Software Survey would be a pretty decent source of information. I don't see any OpenGL support statistics readily available, but you might be able to infer that information from the graphics card statistics.

Medievalism

Do you think it would be safe to assume that a DX10 GPU would probably support OpenGL 3.x? – Bilabiate

From a hardware standpoint, that's a safe assumption. From a driver standpoint, it's safe for NVIDIA and AMD. The assumption is less safe for integrated graphics. – Baumann

Alright, since roughly 93% of current Steam users have DX10+ GPU's it would seem that targeting 3.2 as a minimum should be safe for a game releasing in over a year. Thanks (and +1) – Bilabiate

You're welcome. As a gamer and game developer with a card supporting 3.2, thanks. – Medievalism

Depending on your target audience, you may be interested on Unity Web Player statistics that show a big share of Intel graphics components, which have a hard time supporting proper OpenGL under Windows. – Mauriac

I've put a support ticket in to see if Valve would mind including OpenGL statistics in their monthly report. You'd think someone would have statistics. – Flexuous