In context: Sony and Microsoft have both promised their next-generation consoles would introduce casual gamers to the ray-tracing experience. What they have not said is how much RT would impact performance. It is up to developers to implement the technology and optimize it. Capcom is one of the first to reveal ray tracing's impact on frame rate.
Capcom held its Resident Evil Showcase on Thursday, during which it revealed Resident Evil Village's expected performance on next-gen consoles. The game maker had already said Village would run at 60 frames per second in 4K. What it hadn't mentioned is how much running it with ray tracing enabled would affect performance.
Unsurprisingly, both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S will take hits in the frame rate with ray tracing running. For the PS5 and XBX running the game in 4K with RT, players can expect to get about 45fps. The Xbox Series S can run the game in 1440p at 45fps or 30fps with RT enabled. It's a significant hit on frame rate across the board but not terrible.
Capcom additionally confirmed performance for last-gen consoles. On base model PS4s and XB1s, the best you're going to get is 900p at 45fps and 30fps, respectively. PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X models have settings to output 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps.
To check out the game yourself, be sure to take Resident Evil Village for a test drive during one of the upcoming timed demo events (above). PlayStation 4 and 5 owners in the US will get the first crack at it. Starting tomorrow, April 17, from 5 pm to 1 am PDT, players can download a one-hour trial of the village section. A castle demo drops during the same timeframe one week later, on May 24.
If you miss those sneak peeks, don't worry. Beginning May 1, a combined village/castle demo will release on all platforms (PS4/5, XB1/X|S, Steam, and Stadia). It is still only a one-hour demo but will be available through launch day on May 7.