Yep, Minecraft RTX is going to be a thing, with ray tracing coming to the PC version of the game in a future update. If you were disappointed to hear that the Minecraft Super Duper Graphics Pack was being canceled, then perhaps “RTX On” can fill that void for you. With ray tracing, Minecraft is going to look a lot different, with more realistic lighting which should make the world become even more immersive. But when can you expect the PC ray tracing update to drop? Here’s what you need to know about the Minecraft RTX update release date.
When is the Minecraft RTX release date for PC?
Gamers looking to overhaul the visuals of Minecraft with Nvidia’s new ray tracing technology, through the use of an RTX graphics card (for optimal performance), will be eager to learn of the Minecraft RTX release date. Though unofficial mods can make the game look great already, official support is often more polished and less prone to causing errors.
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Though any planned launch date or window was omitted from the official press release, Polygon was reportedly told by a Microsoft employee that the RTX release date is “scheduled to be released within the next year.” While that isn’t a very specific timeframe, it does at least allow PC owners to look forward to ray tracing coming before September 2020, providing there are no unforeseen delays.
As for what the Minecraft RTX update changes will be, players can expect a number of enhancements over the regular version of the game. These include:
- Direct lighting from the sun, sky and various light sources, including emissive surfaces such as glowstone and lava
- Realistic hard and soft shadows depending on the size, shape and distance of the light source
- Per-pixel emissive lighting
- Indirect diffuse illumination (diffuse global illumination)
- Indirect specular illumination (reflections)
- Transparent materials with reflection, refraction and scattering (stained glass, water, ice)
- Atmospheric scattering and density (volumetric fog, light shafts, realistic sky)
