In a recent GeForce blog post, (opens in new tab) Nvidia gets gamers ready for Battlefield 2042's early access and details all the new Nvidia-focused features coming to EA's latest AAA title. Those features include Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology and Reflex support. Nvidia also highlights the benefits of the game's new ray-tracing ambient occlusion, which will enhance the shadows and lighting of the game.
Nvidia notes the ray-tracing portion of the game will be exclusive to PC (at least for now), with the requirement being an AMD Radeon or Nvidia GeForce GPU that supports Microsoft's DirectX Raytracing feature set. Unfortunately, this means consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X will not be getting RT support for the game for the time being. However, we suspect a future update will take place that will add RT support to the latest generation consoles.
However, the only ray tracing feature announced was ray-traced ambient occlusion. So it appears Battlefield 2042 won't be focusing as much on graphical fidelity as Battlefield V once did. Instead, DICE is probably pulling back other ray-tracing features like shadows and reflections in favor of higher frame rates in the game, which is arguably more critical in a fast-paced FPS shooter.
To be ready for early access, you'll need to buy the Gold or Ultimate editions of Battlefield 2042, or rent the game with EA's Play Pro membership. For GeForce owners, you'll want to update to the latest Nvidia driver 496.49 for an optimal experience.
However, Nvidia also announced a new Battlefield 2042-optimized driver would be out for the game's official release on November 19th. You can expect this update to appear during the game's early access phase and right before the game's official launch.
