Microsoft has recently shared a lot of details about the Xbox Series X. This includes a fresh look at how the console's use of hardware accelerated DirectX ray tracing makes next-gen games look even better. Starting off with a definition: ray racing is essentially a technological framework that allows for improved lighting, shadows, and reflections. It also helps create more realistic-sounding audio. In short, it's a way for developers to create "more physically accurate worlds," according to Microsoft.
Microsoft says the Xbox Series X is the first-ever console to feature this kind of ray tracing, and it's made possible thanks to the console's custom GPU made in collaboration with AMD.
Will Tuttle of the Xbox Wire witnessed ray tracing on the Xbox Series X first-hand with Minecraft. Tuttle said the advancements that ray tracing offers were immediately obvious. "Shadows cast from objects soften or harden depending on how far away from the object you are, while lava gives off a warm orange glow that dissipates over distance and reflects off of minecart rails," Tuttle said. "Even the moon casts its own rays, streaming down through cracks in the walls and reflecting off particles in the air."
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