Highly anticipated: Black Myth: Wukong has been one of the most impressive-looking upcoming games since its initial 2020 unveiling. With the release date a few months away, Nvidia has announced that it will become the third AAA game to employ path tracing. Additionally, the popular free-to-play game Naraka Bladepoint will receive path tracing through an update soon.
Chinese studio Game Science's long-anticipated action RPG Black Myth: Wukong will include full tray tracing on PC, also known as path tracing, adding more cutting-edge technology to its already astounding visuals. Nvidia also announced RTX-related updates for Naraka Bladepoint, Diablo IV, Portal RTX, and Star Wars Outlaws.
Path tracing, which applies ray tracing calculations to virtually all visible objects in a game, has mostly been used to mod retro games with low-poly graphics due to its astronomical computational cost. With Nvidia's RTX Remix toolset, the technology can dramatically overhaul classics like Portal, Max Payne, Tomb Raider, and soon, Half-Life 2.
Only two AAA titles with detailed modern graphics have utilized path tracing so far: Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2. Both are known to push PCs to their limits, and the feature's addition to Wukong places the game among top-ranked PC gaming showcases. Path tracing will enhance its water reflections, water caustics, global illumination, and all shadows. Black Myth: Wukong is slated for an August 20 release.
Meanwhile, an update to Naraka Bladepoint will likely bring path tracing to a broader range of users (who own the necessary high-end RTX 30 and 40 series GPUs). The PvE and three-player PvP modes will support path-traced reflections, global illumination, and shadows. Nvidia and developer 24 Entertainment didn't specify the patch's release date, but it appears to be imminent, while other modes receive the update at a later date.
Additionally, Star Wars Outlaws will become one of a handful of titles to include RTXDI when it launches later this year. Short for RTX Direct Illumination, RTXDI helps games efficiently render large numbers of ray-traced light sources. RTXDI is central to Cyberpunk 2077's path-traced RT Overdrive mode. Although Star Wars Outlaws won't feature path tracing, it will support ray-traced global illumination and DLSS 3 frame generation.
Nvidia also announced that Diablo IV will receive a ray tracing update on March 26, two days before it joins Xbox Game Pass. Ray tracing will enhance the game's shadows, reflections, and transparent reflections. Another new small update is for Portal RTX, which now uses RTX IO GPU decompression to shorten load times and shrink the game's storage requirement.