Cyberpunk 2077 Gets Ray Traced Local Light Shadows on PC Thanks to Partnership with NVIDIA

The Cyberpunk 2077 update 1.5 may be mainly about next-generation consoles, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing specific for PC gamers. The game received AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) and Variable Rate Shading (VRS) support, but that’s not all.

NVIDIA revealed to have partnered with CD Projekt RED post-launch to improve the image quality of ray tracing in the game. The result is the addition of ray traced local light shadows, whereas previously, Cyberpunk 2077 only resolved ray traced sun shadows.

NVIDIA shared a couple of image comparisons to show off this new feature. The latter comparison shows the most noticeable improvement, adding shadows to some objects that previously had none.

Digital Foundry’s Alexander Battaglia also took a couple of captures himself, noting that this will likely make Cyberpunk 2077 a bit heavier during night scenes.

Cryptic update to the ray tracing on CP2077 PC that explains the “RT local shadows” on PS5/XSX. The RT shadows setting on PC now *also* adds ray traced shadows to artificial lights, previously, it was just to the sun light. The tool-tip still erroneously says sun shadows only. pic.twitter.com/MwYrpiIVso

— Alexander Battaglia (@Dachsjaeger) February 15, 2022

And yes of course this means the game will run heavier after this patch in indoor areas or at night time if you have the RT shadows option “On”. https://t.co/ZHwYfZVfMh pic.twitter.com/jmZFVDe01w

— Alexander Battaglia (@Dachsjaeger) February 15, 2022

Neat to see the area light shadows instead of broken shadow maps and missing objects. pic.twitter.com/oclI3rkyeo

— Alexander Battaglia (@Dachsjaeger) February 15, 2022

You can more easily check out whether the performance will satisfy you thanks to the new built-in benchmark tool, by the way.

Cyberpunk 2077 definitely looks a lot better with ray tracing enabled, that’s for sure.

Some of the differences ray tracing can make in Cyberpunk 2077 pic.twitter.com/1qS9oJlTmV

— Ray Tracing Revolution (@ray_revolution) February 16, 2022

Thankfully, console gamers can now experience it as well on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, alongside several other improvements introduced with patch 1.5.

NEXT-GEN EXCLUSIVES

• Added ray-traced local light shadows.
• Implemented native achievement support on next-gen consoles. Note that as the next-gen version has a different SKU, PlayStation trophies obtained in backward compatibility will not be transferred. Xbox achievements will automatically appear on the new version using the Smart Delivery feature.
• Introduced two graphics modes on PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X:
• Performance Mode – Ensures smooth gameplay at 60fps with dynamic 4K scaling.
• Ray Tracing Mode – Provides photorealistic shadow rendering as well as gameplay at 30fps with dynamic 4K scaling.
• The Xbox Series S version has no graphics mode selection and is by default presented at 30 FPS in 1440p with dynamic resolution scaling.
• Added performance improvements which significantly decrease the number of FPS drops and improve rendering quality.
• Balanced HDR to achieve parity across all platforms.
• Various visual quality improvements.
• Added Activity Cards for PS5.
• Implemented support for spatial audio on PlayStation 5 for 3D-audio-enabled headphones and built-in TV speakers via PS5 ‘s Tempest 3D AudioTech solution.
• Implemented the use of adaptive triggers on PS5 controllers. Haptic feedback is now customized based on in-game activity.
• The controller’s built-in speaker is used for holocalls, text messages, and everything that happens in V’s head.

Are you jumping back into Cyberpunk 2077 yet, or do you plan to wait for the first proper expansion? CD Projekt RED didn’t provide a date, but we know it’s coming.

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