Minecraft is getting official RTX ray tracing support on PC from Nvidia

Minecraft is getting official RTX ray tracing support from Nvidia, offering PC players glossy, shiny graphics for the blocky adventure. Nvidia, Mojang, and Microsoft studios have joined forces to bring a form of ray tracing magic known as 'path tracing' to the Windows 10 version of Minecraft, which is set to be available sometime in 2020 as a free download for all players.

Lots of texture packs and shaders can really change up the look and feel of the Minecraft world, and likewise the addition of adding ray tracing makes a big difference to the many landscapes in Mojang’s sandbox adventure. Just looking at the comparison between a landscape with RTX on and off above shows just how good it will look, bringing in gorgeous rays of light and noticeable texture changes.

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What is ray tracing, and is it really the future of gaming?

Minecraft isn’t the only one to get a ray tracing makeover. Nvidia have also announced a whole lineup of other games that will also be getting ray tracing support in the build up to Gamescon, including the likes of Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, Control, and Watch Dogs: Legion.

News about this ray-tracing addition comes just after it was recently revealed the super duper graphics pack was officially canceled. The pack, was originally set to launch back in 2017, later got delayed to 2018 before being canceled altogether. Set to make some serious visual upgrades to the game, the cancellation left many feeling disappointed, but it looks like Nvidia is set to more than make up for it for PC players.

Looking to give your Minecraft world an overhaul? Check out our list of the best Minecraft texture packs, or watch the video below for an exploration into the limitations of open world games.

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Heather Wald is the Evergreen Editor, Games at GamesRadar+. Her writing career began on a student-led magazine at Bath Spa University, where she earned a BA (Hons) in English literature. Heather landed her first role writing about tech and games for Stuff Magazine shortly after graduating with an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University. Now with almost seven years of experience working with GamesRadar+ on the features team, Heather helps to develop, maintain, and expand the evergreen features that exist on the site for games, as well as spearhead the Indie Spotlight series. You'll also see her contribute op-eds, interview-led features, and more. In her spare time, you'll likely find Heather tucking into RPGs and indie games, reading romance novels, and drinking lots of tea.