DOOM Eternal will not feature Ray-Tracing, though the option was explored

DOOM Eternal will not feature Ray-Tracing, but it was tested

DOOM Eternal will not feature Ray-Tracing, but the option was explored

It has been confirmed that DOOM Eternal will not feature hardware-accelerated raytracing on PC, with the studio instead focusing its effort on polishing the game before its official launch. 

Back at E2 2019, id Software confirmed that they were working with Nvidia’s raytracing hardware, with their studio director Marty Stratton stating that “I think we’ll do it better than anybody [else].” Now, that id Software’s confidence in its raytracing capabilities will not be showcased in DOOM Eternal, with the company pulling the attention of its programmers away from raytracing possibilities and back onto DOOM Eternal.

In a recent interview with Digital Foundry, id Software’s Marty Stratton confirmed that their developers will not be focusing on raytracing with DOOM Eternal, but that the studio can see hardware-accelerated raytracing changing the future of gaming graphics. Raytracing will be used for more than reflections and shadows, though Stratton wasn’t keen on sharing id Software’s raytracing secrets. 

For id Software, the priority for DOOM Eternal is to release the title with stable performance on every platform, which includes PC, Xbox One, PS4, Switch and Stadia, with each shipping version of the game taking priority. This means that RTX raytracing isn’t the top thing on id Software’s minds, as ray tracing “doesn’t necessarily expand our audience”, as Stratton stated back in 2019.

Adding hardware-accelerated raytracing to a game isn’t an easy process. The technology is new, and it requires talent, time and money to implement. DOOM Eternal has already been delayed from its original November 22nd release date, which should help explain why id’s exploration of raytracing tech was ultimately cut short. It’s better for id Software to focus on game improvements that impact all platforms, rather than effects which are only usable on a minority of gaming PCs. 
 

DOOM Eternal will not feature Ray-Tracing, but it was tested  

id software is certain to look into raytracing after the release of DOOM Eternal, especially now that both next-generation consoles are known to support the feature. Only time will tell how the company will utilise the feature to improve its future games, and we look forward to seeing these efforts bear fruit. 

DOOM Eternal is due to release on March 20th, 2020. 

You can join the discussion on DOOM Eternal’s lack of support for raytracing on the OC3D Forums.Â