Microsoft starts testing Minecraft ray tracing on Xbox

Microsoft has began testing ray tracing assist for Minecraft on Xbox Collection X / S consoles. A brand new Minecraft Preview construct is obtainable to Xbox Insiders, and it contains restricted ray tracing assist. The most recent take a look at construct can be marked as optimized for Xbox Collection X / S, suggesting {that a} next-gen patch is coming quickly.

I’ve been testing out the most recent Minecraft Preview, and have been in a position to efficiently allow some ray tracing assist. It’s not a easy swap, although. Minecraft’s ray tracing is enabled by means of further useful resource packs, and there’s no straightforward means of downloading and putting in these within the Xbox model of the sport proper now. There’s a workaround, although. You possibly can host a Minecraft session on a Home windows PC with the packs enabled, and an Xbox participant can be part of that session and ray tracing will probably be enabled.

You’re then in a position to toggle ray tracing assist on or off from the settings menu. Whereas there may be additionally a setting for upscaling assist, this seems to be restricted to Nvidia’s DLSS on the PC facet proper now. Hopefully that can finally prolong to AMD’s FSR 2.0 assist on Xbox, or different upscaling methods.

Minecraft gamers on Xbox have been ready a very long time to listen to about ray tracing on Xbox Collection X / S. Microsoft initially teased Minecraft ray tracing on Xbox Collection X two years in the past, and the addition of the assist within the newest preview construct suggests it may very well be on its means quickly.

Minecraft’s blocky aesthetic was initially upgraded as a part of the ray tracing launch for the Home windows 10 model of the sport in December 2020. The ray tracing is most noticeable in water reflections or shadows inside Minecraft, or by means of the extra element in texture packs.