AMD uploads a video where they say that RayTracing is seen in WoW: Shadowlands
Doubts surrounding ray tracing support in the new AMD Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards persist. It seems AMD has released a video in an attempt to shed some light on the matter, where ray tracing is indeed present. Specifically, AMD showcased FidelityFX Ambient Occlusion and Variable Rate Shading in WoW: Shadowlands, although the ray tracing implementation is difficult to discern.
It is at least strange that AMD has been avoiding talking about RayTracing for days. Frank Azor indicated that they would give more details about this technology shortly, but 6 days after the launch of the RX 6800 and RX 6800 XT, we don't know anything. The truth is that the difference with and without RayTracing in WoW: Shadownlands is hard to see.
[amazon box=»» title=»» star_rating=»none» template=»table»]AMD 'shows' RayTracing in WoW: Shadowlands
It is certainly hard to see where there is RayTracing in the image offered by AMD. It seems that on the right there is a shadow that is not on the left and a little more light in the left column. The lamp also shows a little excess on the wall, but come on, they are very imperceptible details. We had to look at the image in parts to see these details.
From what we see, RayTracing is a minority and can hardly be seen in the images. The truth is that if the ray tracing is that tenuous, possibly when we are playing or noticing it.
One of the new features that we have implemented in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is FidelityFX Ambient Occlusion. This is a compute-based effect that has a great balance of quality and performance. We have seen this provide a significant performance benefit over our previous Ambient Occlusion implementations.
Another great feature of the Radeon RX 6000 is RayTracing. What you are seeing involves incredibly complex calculations on the Radeon RX 6000. This is a level of realism that was not possible until recently.
Finally, we have implemented Variable Rate Shading (VRS). This is going to provide a performance boost, especially at high resolutions.
We've partnered with AMD to help us squeeze the full power out of your hardware and improve your frame rates whenever we can. Also, the Infinity Cache improves performance.
Frank Kowalkowski, Technical Director, Blizzard Entertainment
