Minecraft, everyone's favorite open sandbox video-game, is getting a free update that brings improved lighting and color to the game's dated graphics, thanks to real-time ray tracing running on NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics hardware. The popular Window's PC game is creative in a sense where there are no specific goals to accomplish, which allows players an enormous amount of freedom in experiencing game-play.

Possibilities are endless in Minecraft's open world sandbox, where you can do and make anything, and because of this concept, plays a huge role in the game's success. NVIDIA and Minecraft developer, Mojang, have reached a stunning, new level of realism with the introduction of real-time DXR ray tracing for the Windows 10 edition of Minecraft.

(Left: Ray tracing OFF | Right: Ray Tracing ON)

(Img source: https://www.fanatical.com/en/blog/minecraft-just-announced-an-update-and-its-a-bit-of)

From NVIDIA, "Minecraft with RTX will refit the entire game with path tracing, a form of ray tracing featuring incredible levels of detail, affecting almost every pixel of every scene. You’ll see lifelike lighting, reflections and shadows, plus so much more, exemplifying the power of ray tracing and demonstrating why game developers like Mojang and Microsoft are working together with NVIDIA to enhance upcoming blockbusters with ray tracing."

"It sounds like it’ll be an excellent addition to the experience for players who are equipped with the right hardware — including lighting effects not only from the sun, but also from in-game materials like glowstone and lava; both hard and soft shadows depending on transparency of material and angle of light refraction; and accurate reflections in surfaces that are supposed to be reflective (i.e. gold blocks, for instance)", via Techcrunch.

Let us know what you think about ray tracing coming to Minecraft on Windows 10 in the comments below!