CD Projekt Red and Nvidia present RT: Overdrive mode, which adds real-time path tracking to the game.

Cyberpunk 2077 is already one of the most spectacular video games on the market. Released in 2020, the game offers optional visual features including ray tracing, ray-traced reflections, ray-traced diffuse lighting, and more. But there’s always room for improvement, and Cyberpunk 2077’s RT: Overdrive mode looks to be another step forward.

CD Projekt Red has announced that it will show RT: Overdrive, a path-tracking mode for Cyberpunk 2077, at a GDC 2023 panel. RTX Path Tracing is an Nvidia software development kit that combines real-time ray tracing with neural graphics development to create real-time path-tracing traces. We can imagine the path taken by a stream of light as it reflects off a window and reflective surfaces. CD Projekt Red can use this technology in Cyberpunk 2077 to create more realistic and stunning lighting and increase the realism of reflections.

The demo presented at the Cyberpunk 2077 RT: Overdrive – Bringing Path Tracing into the Night City panel gives CD Projekt Red an opportunity to show off the potential of the technology and help inform developers from other studios about what’s possible and how it can be achieved. However, it should be clear: this is a developer-oriented panel behind closed doors. It probably won’t be shared publicly, and it wouldn’t necessarily be something Cyberpunk 2077 fans would want.

RT: Overdrive mode was originally planned to be released alongside Cyberpunk 2077’s DLSS 3 update, which arrived in January. Instead, it became a separate edition. At the time, Nvidia claimed that RT: Overdrive mode would allow PC gamers to max out all settings, including ray tracing options. CD Projekt Red has yet to confirm these plans, but the GDC panel may give hope for a release coming soon.

Source: GameRant