Battlefield V Update to Boost Ray Tracing Performance up to 50 Percent (Updated)

Updated, 12/4/2018, 7 a.m. PT: DICE announced that it's delaying the Battlefield V: Tides of War Chapter 1: Overture update for an undetermined time. The developer said it discovered some issues with the update and "rather than create issues in the game," it decided to hold it back until those problems are resolved. DICE said it doesn't foresee a long delay and will provide more information as soon as it becomes available, possibly today.

Original article, 12/3/2018, 8:56am PT:

Nvidia, Electronic Arts and DICE have partnered to improve Battlefield V's ray tracing performance in the Battlefield V: Tides of War Chapter 1: Overture update arriving on December 4. Nvidia said in a blog post today that the first-person shooter's DirectX Raytracing (DXR) performance sees up to a 50 percent performance improvement when the update and its corresponding GeForce Game Ready driver are installed.

Battlefield V has been the poster child for Nvidia's ray tracing support ever since Nvidia revealed the RTX graphics cards. All of the companies involved have a vested interest in making sure the game's DXR performance, for real-time hardware ray tracing, is top-notch; otherwise, they run the risk of frustrating people who spent $60 on a new game for a graphics card that cost them at least $1,200. Regular improvements are all but required.

"Specifically, GeForce RTX 2080 Ti users will now be able to play at over 60 fps at 2560x1440 with DXR Raytraced Reflections set to Ultra. GeForce RTX 2080 users will be able to play at over 60 fps at 2560x1440 with Medium DXR Raytraced Reflections. And GeForce RTX 2070 users will be able to play at over 60 fps at 1920x1080 with Medium DXR Raytraced Reflections," Nvidia said. It didn't offer specific comparisons to current performance.

That isn't the only change arriving with the Battlefield V: Tides of War Chapter 1: Overture update on December 4. It will also add a training range, a Panzerstorm map for multiplayer matches and a single-player War Story called The Last Tiger, in addition to "a number of other gameplay enhancements," according to Nvidia. For folks who bought Battlefield V specifically for ray tracing, though, these changes are likely an afterthought.

You can see how Battlefield V currently performs with ray tracing enabled in the video below. Interested gamers should remember there are specific hardware requirements for ray tracing.

Nvidia also shared more details about the Game Ready driver, which also improves support for Just Cause 4, Insurgency: Sandstorm and other titles.