Here's a first look at the dazzling visuals coming to next-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5 and next Xbox
The demo, named "Back Stage," comes from Square Enix's Luminous Productions — a subsidiary of Square Enix focused on creating a new, untitled project.
The demo intends specifically to show off a new visual technique known as "Ray Tracing," which aims to re-create natural lighting more accurately.
The phrase "Ray Tracing" doesn't exactly spark joy. It sounds like jargon, and that's because it's totally jargon.
Here's a simple, logical explanation of the concept from my colleague Antonio Villas-Boas:
"It essentially simulates the path of light travelling from a light source in a game, like a light bulb, fire, or the sun, more accurately than conventional video game lighting. The result is more realistic lighting, reflections, and shadows in a video game."
Aha!
So, simply speaking, ray tracing makes representations of light in games — whether we're talking about shadows, reflections, light sourcing, or whatever else — look more accurate.
Notably, the demo also highlights the overall horsepower increase with next-gen consoles that will enable high-fidelity visuals like those seen below:
Between the reflection from the mirror and the variance in lighting of the objects on the counter, it's clear that ray tracing has a massive impact on visuals. It remains to be seen how much of this technique can be applied across entire games, but we'll find out soon enough!
Check out the full demo video, named "Back Stage," right here:
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