Intel has reportedly cancelled its more powerful Arc Battlemage BMG-G31 GPUs expected to power B770 and B750 graphics cards. This means that Intel’s lineup would end up offering only the already launched B580 and B570, prompting worries that the upcoming entry-level B380 will also go the way of the dodo.
According to @jaykihn0 on X, Intel is no longer planning to release other Arc Battlemage GPUs, reportedly cancelling its efforts way back in Q3 2024. It’s not confirmation but certainly not a good sign that the architecture will soon celebrate its fourth month since release with no sign of future products, especially when graphics card rivals saw leaks every other week.
Further hammering the nails into its coffin is the fact Intel’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, didn’t mention the brand’s Arc GPUs in his letter to shareholders. This note contained the company’s plans for 2025 and 2026, with a particular focus on releasing Panther Lake in H2 2025 and Nova Lake in 2026.
If correct, this would once more leave AMD and Nvidia to fight over the lower mid-range with their respective Radeon RX 9060 series and GeForce RTX 5060 series. Both brands are expected to release their products in April, likely around the $400 mark. Intel would be a great way to force prices further down by offering those willing to give it a change a better value for their money, but Arc’s future doesn’t seem bright. So, such news isn’t rejoicing.
Though not without its quirks the Arc B580 did deliver a recommendable alternative to competition, powered by a 20-core BMG-G21 GPU and 12GB of VRAM. Based on the new Xe2 architecture featuring solid ray tracing performance and the latest technologies such as frame generation, B580 was sought-after enough that initial stocks didn’t soak demand. The bigger BMG-G31 GPU was expected to feature between 24 and 32 Xe2 cores coupled with a 256-bit memory bus and 16GB of GDDR6 memory.
On the plus side, Intel has yet to officially acknowledge these rumours, meaning hope isn’t entirely lost for B770. After all, Intel’s second-gen GPUs were plagued with rumours of cancellation from the beginning, yet Battlemage persisted and did eventually release. We hope they aren’t true so Team Blue can once more bring value to a segment that is reaching ridiculous levels of inflated prices. If not, then next-gen Celestial will have to do double duty to gain back consumers’ trust.
