Feature spotted in latest Preview build.
Despite being used as a showcase for Xbox Series X/S’ raytracing capabilities prior to the console’s launch in 2020, Minecraft has so far remained doggedly raytracing-free on the machine. That looks to be about to change, however, with the feature having now surfaced in the latest build of Minecraft’s Xbox Preview programme.
As spotted by Tom Warren, senior editor on The Verge, Minecraft’s latest Preview version on Xbox Series X/S (currently only available to Xbox Insider members) features raytracing as a toggle-able option, giving the more-than-a-decade-old game a bit of a modern day spruce-up.
Before you excitedly rush to check it out, however, it’s worth noting the feature currently only appears to be available for select users, with VGC reporting raytracing can’t be enabled on its machine right now, despite the presence of the toggle in the options menu.
Minecraft with raytracing on Xbox? The latest Minecraft Preview is optimized for Xbox Series S / X and has early raytracing support ? pic.twitter.com/cqH0cuGbtS
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) March 28, 2022
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Raytracing initially made its official debut in Minecraft back in 2020, when Microsoft teamed up with Nvidia to integrate the feature for use with RTX graphics cards on PC. As Digital Foundry put it at the time, the results were “transformative”. On Xbox, however, the feature has remained notably absent, despite Microsoft using Minecraft as an early showcase for Xbox Series X/S’ raytracing capabilities in a blog post more than two years ago.
Digital Foundry – Minecraft RTX Beta Hands-On.
Alongside raytracing, expect to see plenty more new features heading to Minecraft Preview – which was recently turned into a convenient standalone app – in the not-too-distant future, particularly as the game’s highly anticipated Wild Update, which adds the likes of frog mobs and a new mangrove swamp biome, draws near.
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