All articles tagged with #ray tracing
Playground Games has published PC system requirements for Forza Horizon 6, detailing Minimum to Extreme presets (including Extreme RT), confirming ray-traced reflections and RTGI, DLSS options across RTX generations, high uncapped framerates and ultrawide support, plus compatibility with Steam Deck and ROG Xbox Ally, ahead of the May 19, 2026 launch on Xbox and PC.
Microsoft’s Project Helix is a forthcoming hybrid Xbox-PC console built around a 3nm AMD SoC with RDNA 5 and a dedicated AI unit, designed to natively run Xbox and PC games within a unified ecosystem. It features AI-powered NPCs and upscaling, advanced ray tracing via Radiance Cores, and DirectStorage with ZSD compression for faster loading, plus four-generation backward compatibility. Alpha development kits are planned for 2027 with a consumer launch anticipated around 2028 at a premium price of roughly $900–$1,200, positioning it against Sony’s PS6 at about $600.
A software update adds PSSR 2 upscaling to the PS5 Pro, boosting visuals on a select set of games (notably with ray tracing in Resident Evil Requiem) and improving motion fidelity for titles reconfigured to use the tech. However, gains are uneven and largely depend on developers updating games for PSSR 2. At $750 (excluding the $80 disc drive), the PS5 Pro remains the best piecemeal option for high-fidelity console gaming, while many titles don’t fully leverage the updater.
Sony and Kojima Productions outlined the PC version of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, releasing on March 19, which adds a new PC-only challenge called 'to the Wilder', a VR training area, new fieldware (including bandanas), and Chiral Feline visits with Photo Mode updates. The PlayStation 5 version will receive these additions simultaneously. PC tech features from Nixxes Software include DLSS/FSR/XeSS upscaling and frame generation, uncapped framerates, full mouse/keyboard support, and complete DualSense integration with spatial sound; 32:9 ultrawide gameplay (21:9 for cutscenes) is supported, with optional ray tracing for reflections and ambient occlusion (not required for the core experience).
Digital Foundry shows that ML-based denoisers from Nvidia (DLSS ray reconstruction) and AMD (FSR Redstone) dramatically improve Crimson Desert PC lighting, restoring directional light, shadows, and reflections even with low ray-count RT, effectively delivering an ultra-quality lighting look at the cost of performance (roughly 14% hit on RTX 5080 and 24% on RX 9070 XT with FSR 4). AMD's solution can look sub-native when not integrated with upscaling, while Nvidia's has some pre-launch bugs (displacement offset, rain disappearance). Despite occasional flicker and pop-in, ML denoising is transformative and underscores ML's role in future games.
Microsoft reveals Project Helix, its next-gen Xbox designed to play both console and PC games, powered by a custom AMD SoC and co-designed for the next generation of DirectX, featuring advanced ray tracing, neural rendering, ML-based upscaling, and Direct Storage. Alpha dev kits are slated to ship in 2027 as Microsoft shifts toward a PC-inclusive “future of play,” with Asha Sharma taking a leading gaming role following Phil Spencer’s retirement.
Xbox used GDC to unveil Project Helix, a next‑gen console built to play both console and PC games, powered by a custom AMD SoC for the next DirectX/FSR era, promising a major leap in ray tracing and cross‑play; alpha dev kits arrive 2027, and Windows 11 Xbox mode will help bridge console‑PC experiences ahead of a full reveal likely no earlier than 2028.
Digital Foundry’s near-final PS5 Pro analysis shows Crimson Desert running in three modes with ray tracing: Performance (60fps at 1080p), Balanced (40fps at 1440p), and Quality (30fps at 4K), all using PSSR upscaling. While there are minor artefacts and some CPU-driven dips in busy areas, the PS5 Pro version is described as a stunning, largely smooth experience, especially with VRR and a v-sync toggle. PSSR2 is expected to improve image quality further, and base PS5 footage has not yet been shown. Overall, Crimson Desert looks phenomenal on PS5 Pro.
Pearl Abyss and Digital Foundry reveal how Crimson Desert uses the BlackSpace Engine to deliver ray-traced global illumination, Many Lights Sampling, Surfel-based Radiance Caches, and a large BVH with distance-limited ray tracing plus SDFs for distant reflections; it employs multi-layer shadow maps, advanced water particle simulations, and LOD/mesh shader approaches for distant trees, with DLSS/FSR on PC and PSSR on PS5 Pro (and frame generation on PC). The interview signals a highly transparent, technically ambitious open-world launch across PC and consoles.
Microsoft revealed limited details on its next-gen Xbox, codenamed Project Helix, highlighting a custom AMD-based SOC built for neural rendering, deep texture compression, and AI-powered upscaling; alpha hardware is planned for 2027, with DirectStorage streaming and cross-generation compatibility including PC titles as part of a long-term gaming strategy.
Microsoft plans to start sending alpha versions of its next‑gen console, codenamed Project Helix, to game studios in 2027. The Helix dev kits will run both Xbox and PC games and use a custom AMD SoC with path tracing, ray tracing, multi‑frame generation, and ML‑based upscaling. Detailed compute specs aren’t finalized yet, with more information expected as 2027 approaches, and the effort sits alongside Sony’s upcoming hardware ambitions.
At GDC 2026, Microsoft unveiled Project Helix, its next-gen Xbox featuring a custom AMD chip with a major leap in ray tracing (including path tracing) and ML-driven FSR upscaling with frame generation; alpha versions for developers are planned for 2027. Helix will play PC games and unify Xbox and Windows development, with Xbox mode coming to Windows PCs in select markets and shader precompilation via Advanced Shader Delivery. Microsoft also hinted at 25th-anniversary game preservation and the return of iconic first-party franchises, while Asha Sharma takes over Xbox as Phil Spencer retires.
Pearl Abyss details Crimson Desert's console performance ahead of its March 19 launch: PS5 and Xbox Series X/S offer three modes—Performance (1080p/60, VRR uncapped, RTLow), Balanced (upscaled 4K from 1280p, ~40 FPS, no RT changes), and Quality (4K/30, High RT); PS5 Pro bumps fidelity with native 4K and higher RT options, plus potential 48+ FPS via VRR in Balanced; Xbox Series S is limited to 720p/40 FPS with no RT, while Quality improves to 1080p/30 RT. The developer also covers supported peripherals (ROG Xbox Ally/X) and notes Steam Deck support is unconfirmed as launch approaches on PC, Mac, and consoles.
A modder has ported Linux to the PS5 and showcases GTA 5 Enhanced Edition running at about 60 FPS with ray tracing. The setup reportedly delivers 4K HDMI output, working audio, and full USB functionality, with the CPU at 3.2 GHz and GPU at 2.0 GHz (potential boosts discussed). However, it only works on older PS5 firmware via a full-chain exploit, and higher clock speeds risk overheating on a PS5 Slim.
A Moore's Law is Dead leak claims the PS6 Orion will offer roughly 2.5–3× PS5 raster power and 6–12× PS5 RT performance, via a RDNA5 GPU around 34–40 TFLOPs and 52–54 CUs. The handheld PS6 Canis APU is said to use four Zen 6c cores and 16 RDNA5 CUs at 1.6–2 GHz with LPDDR5X memory. Mass production is reportedly set to begin by 2027, with possible launch-time pricing or supply constraints, and no expected delay to 2029 per sources.