Tuesday, September 19th 2023
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Utilizes NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 & Full Ray Tracing
On September 26th, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty launches with full ray tracing, DLSS 3.5, and Ray Reconstruction. Phantom Liberty is a new spy-thriller adventure for Cyberpunk 2077. When the orbital shuttle of the President of the New United States of America is shot down over the deadliest district of Night City, there's only one person who can save her—you. Become V, a cyberpunk for hire, and dive deep into a tangled web of espionage and political intrigue, unraveling a story that connects the highest echelons of power with the brutal world of black-market mercenaries.
"Thanks to DLSS 3.5's smart technology, fuelled by AI rendering power, you can experience Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty's newest location Dogtown at its very best—with sharper images, more accurate lighting, and the highest frame rates possible." said Jakub Knapik, VP of Art, Global Art Director, CD Projekt RED. On September 21st, return to the neon lights of Night City when Cyberpunk 2077's 2.0 update launches, featuring support for NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 and its new Ray Reconstruction technology, enhancing the quality of full ray tracing in Cyberpunk 2077's Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode.
Witness the power of full ray tracing and DLSS 3.5 in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty for yourself in our new, exclusive Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty RTX Technology Video:
Crank Ray Tracing Up To Overdrive
Both Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty feature full ray tracing in the technology preview for the Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode. Full ray tracing, also known as path tracing, accurately simulates light throughout an entire scene. It is used by visual effects artists to create film and TV graphics that are indistinguishable from reality, but until the arrival of GeForce RTX GPUs with RT Cores, and the AI-powered acceleration of NVIDIA DLSS, real-time video game full ray tracing was impossible because it is extremely GPU intensive.
Previous techniques separately addressed ray-traced shadows, reflections and global illumination for a small number of light sources. Full ray tracing models the properties of light from a virtually unlimited number of emissive sources, delivering physically correct shadows, reflections and global illumination on all objects.
One of the most impactful additions in the technology preview of Cyberpunk 2077's Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode is NVIDIA RTX Direct Illumination (RTXDI), a free SDK that enables developers to closely replicate the appearance of light in scenes with numerous light sources. With RTXDI, thousands of objects can emit ray-traced light.
In Cyberpunk 2077, each neon sign, street lamp, LED billboard, car headlight, and other source of light is now ray-traced, bathing objects, walls, passing cars and pedestrians in accurate lighting.
With full ray tracing and RTXDI, now practically all light sources cast physically correct soft shadows, a feat previously unimaginable using previous approaches. Players will experience enhanced shadowing, with better depth, detail and realism.
Cyberpunk 2077 features a full day-night cycle. To upgrade indirect lighting from all emissive sources, including the sun and moon, Global Illumination (GI) needed to be path traced, too. Rendering techniques including Screen Space Reflections, Screen Space Ambient Occlusion, and the existing GI solutions were replaced by a single unified algorithm that delivers more accurate lighting of scenes and objects.
With the Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode enabled, natural colored lighting bounces multiple times throughout Cyberpunk 2077's world, creating more realistic indirect lighting and occlusion.
Reflections now incorporate bounced detail, too, and are rendered at full resolution, accentuating the cyberpunk aesthetic and further heightening immersion.
Combined, the full ray tracing of direct and global illumination give gamers the most advanced real-time lighting seen to date in gaming, and a preview of how all games will look in the future.
Full ray tracing in Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is extremely GPU intensive. For the ultimate experience we recommend GeForce RTX 40 Series and NVIDIA DLSS 3.5. Read on for more details.
For even more info on the making of Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode, check out our interview with CD Projekt RED.
Cyberpunk 2077 Upgrades To DLSS 3.5 On September 21st
DLSS 3.5 will be coming to Cyberpunk 2077 with the game's 2.0 update on September 21st, and is available from day one in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, launching September 26th. In the Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode, DLSS 3.5's new Ray Reconstruction technology enhances the quality and clarity of reflections, global illumination is even more accurate, and lighting is more dynamically responsive, for an even better, more immersive, more realistic experience.
When activated, Ray Reconstruction replaces several hand-tuned ray tracing denoisers with a new unified AI model that enhances full ray tracing, elevating image quality to new heights. In the following scene, the inaccurate headlight illumination which surrounds the car is a result of the hand-tuned denoiser pulling in inaccurate lighting effects from previous frames. DLSS 3.5 accurately generates lighting, so you can make out the beam of the headlights, and see light reflect on the curb in front of the car.
The streets of Night City are filled with reflections from rotating billboards and neon lights. By activating DLSS 3.5, their quality and clarity is enhanced city-wide:
GeForce RTX 40 Series users can combine Super Resolution and Frame Generation with Ray Reconstruction for breathtaking performance and image quality, while GeForce RTX 20 and 30 Series users can add Ray Reconstruction to their AI-powered arsenal alongside Super Resolution.
Max Performance With NVIDIA DLSS 3.5
In Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, replacing multiple hand-tuned denoisers with Ray Reconstruction also happens to increase performance that bit more. Get the ultimate Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty experience, using the Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode, at over 60 FPS, with GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards. We recommend the GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 at 4K, RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4070 at 1440p, and the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4060 at 1080p. Get more details here.
At 4K, with full ray tracing enabled, along with max settings, NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 using Frame Generation, Ray Reconstruction, Reflex, and Super Resolution is 4.9X faster on average than native 4K rendering, while also looking substantially more realistic and immersive:
At 2560x1440, DLSS 3.5 multiplies performance by 3X average on average, enabling 60 FPS+ gameplay on the GeForce RTX 4070 and up:
At 1920x1080, all GeForce RTX 40 Series gamers can experience Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty at the highest levels of detail thanks to a 3X average performance multiplication courtesy of Frame Generation, Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction:
To find a GeForce RTX 40 Series GPU, head here for a full rundown of models available in your region.
Get Game Ready For Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty With The Latest Game Ready Driver
For the very best experience in Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty with full ray tracing and DLSS 3.5, download our new Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Game Ready Driver for your PC or laptop from GeForce.com or GeForce Experience on September 21st.
You Can Also Enjoy Full Ray Tracing Enhanced By NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 On GeForce NOW
GeForce NOW instantly transforms your laptop, desktop, Mac, TV, Android device, iPhone, or iPad into the powerful PC gaming rig you've always dreamed of. GeForce NOW connects to digital PC game stores so you can stream the games you already own, without fear of losing access to them.
Our Ultimate membership offers you instant access to the high performance GeForce RTX 4080 cloud gaming rigs for a high-resolution, ultra-low latency experience, in Cyberpunk 2077 and over 1600 other games.
Shortly after release of Update 2.0, Cyberpunk 2077 will be upgraded to the latest version on GeForce NOW, enabling you to play with full ray tracing, enhanced by NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 and Ray Reconstruction. And on September 26th, you can dive straight into Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.
Cyberpunk 2077 & Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Are #RTXOn
On September 21st, you can experience DLSS 3.5 and Ray Reconstruction in Cyberpunk 2077's Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode. DLSS 3.5 makes your games even more beautiful, immersive and realistic, and is available for all GeForce RTX users. And on September 26th, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty will be available for you to jump back once more into Night City, with full ray tracing and DLSS 3.5.
Return to GeForce.com each week to learn about the latest, greatest and most anticipated games launching with DLSS.
Sources:
NVIDIA News, The Verge
"Thanks to DLSS 3.5's smart technology, fuelled by AI rendering power, you can experience Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty's newest location Dogtown at its very best—with sharper images, more accurate lighting, and the highest frame rates possible." said Jakub Knapik, VP of Art, Global Art Director, CD Projekt RED. On September 21st, return to the neon lights of Night City when Cyberpunk 2077's 2.0 update launches, featuring support for NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 and its new Ray Reconstruction technology, enhancing the quality of full ray tracing in Cyberpunk 2077's Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode.
Crank Ray Tracing Up To Overdrive
Both Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty feature full ray tracing in the technology preview for the Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode. Full ray tracing, also known as path tracing, accurately simulates light throughout an entire scene. It is used by visual effects artists to create film and TV graphics that are indistinguishable from reality, but until the arrival of GeForce RTX GPUs with RT Cores, and the AI-powered acceleration of NVIDIA DLSS, real-time video game full ray tracing was impossible because it is extremely GPU intensive.
Previous techniques separately addressed ray-traced shadows, reflections and global illumination for a small number of light sources. Full ray tracing models the properties of light from a virtually unlimited number of emissive sources, delivering physically correct shadows, reflections and global illumination on all objects.
One of the most impactful additions in the technology preview of Cyberpunk 2077's Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode is NVIDIA RTX Direct Illumination (RTXDI), a free SDK that enables developers to closely replicate the appearance of light in scenes with numerous light sources. With RTXDI, thousands of objects can emit ray-traced light.
In Cyberpunk 2077, each neon sign, street lamp, LED billboard, car headlight, and other source of light is now ray-traced, bathing objects, walls, passing cars and pedestrians in accurate lighting.
With the Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode enabled, natural colored lighting bounces multiple times throughout Cyberpunk 2077's world, creating more realistic indirect lighting and occlusion.
Full ray tracing in Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is extremely GPU intensive. For the ultimate experience we recommend GeForce RTX 40 Series and NVIDIA DLSS 3.5. Read on for more details.
For even more info on the making of Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode, check out our interview with CD Projekt RED.
Cyberpunk 2077 Upgrades To DLSS 3.5 On September 21st
DLSS 3.5 will be coming to Cyberpunk 2077 with the game's 2.0 update on September 21st, and is available from day one in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, launching September 26th. In the Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode, DLSS 3.5's new Ray Reconstruction technology enhances the quality and clarity of reflections, global illumination is even more accurate, and lighting is more dynamically responsive, for an even better, more immersive, more realistic experience.
When activated, Ray Reconstruction replaces several hand-tuned ray tracing denoisers with a new unified AI model that enhances full ray tracing, elevating image quality to new heights. In the following scene, the inaccurate headlight illumination which surrounds the car is a result of the hand-tuned denoiser pulling in inaccurate lighting effects from previous frames. DLSS 3.5 accurately generates lighting, so you can make out the beam of the headlights, and see light reflect on the curb in front of the car.
In Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, replacing multiple hand-tuned denoisers with Ray Reconstruction also happens to increase performance that bit more. Get the ultimate Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty experience, using the Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode, at over 60 FPS, with GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards. We recommend the GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 at 4K, RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4070 at 1440p, and the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4060 at 1080p. Get more details here.
At 4K, with full ray tracing enabled, along with max settings, NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 using Frame Generation, Ray Reconstruction, Reflex, and Super Resolution is 4.9X faster on average than native 4K rendering, while also looking substantially more realistic and immersive:
Get Game Ready For Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty With The Latest Game Ready Driver
For the very best experience in Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty with full ray tracing and DLSS 3.5, download our new Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Game Ready Driver for your PC or laptop from GeForce.com or GeForce Experience on September 21st.
GeForce NOW instantly transforms your laptop, desktop, Mac, TV, Android device, iPhone, or iPad into the powerful PC gaming rig you've always dreamed of. GeForce NOW connects to digital PC game stores so you can stream the games you already own, without fear of losing access to them.
Our Ultimate membership offers you instant access to the high performance GeForce RTX 4080 cloud gaming rigs for a high-resolution, ultra-low latency experience, in Cyberpunk 2077 and over 1600 other games.
Shortly after release of Update 2.0, Cyberpunk 2077 will be upgraded to the latest version on GeForce NOW, enabling you to play with full ray tracing, enhanced by NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 and Ray Reconstruction. And on September 26th, you can dive straight into Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.
Cyberpunk 2077 & Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Are #RTXOn
On September 21st, you can experience DLSS 3.5 and Ray Reconstruction in Cyberpunk 2077's Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode. DLSS 3.5 makes your games even more beautiful, immersive and realistic, and is available for all GeForce RTX users. And on September 26th, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty will be available for you to jump back once more into Night City, with full ray tracing and DLSS 3.5.
Return to GeForce.com each week to learn about the latest, greatest and most anticipated games launching with DLSS.
16 Comments on Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Utilizes NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 & Full Ray Tracing
This is all just optional stuff for 40 series owners meant as a tech preview.