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NVIDIA (NVDA) RTX Ray Tracing to Transform Minecraft Worlds

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NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) has been instrumental in introducing real-time ray tracing technology to the gaming world. Its potent technology has provided the company with a substantial economic moat in this industry. A spate of blockbuster AAA titles, which pledged support for NVIDIA RTX ray tracing technology, is a positive.

Recently, the company joined forces with Minecraft developer, Mojang Studios, to bring next-generation ray tracing and AI to the game. The news of NVIDIA’s real-time ray tracing technology being selected by Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) was announced in August last year. However, the beta version of the video game using RTX ray tracing technology will be released this week and be available on Windows 10.

Additionally, NVIDIA announced that six new Minecraft worlds will be free for download from the Minecraft Marketplace.

Earlier, the company had also noted that other games, which have adopted its technology, include Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Ubisoft Toronto's Watch Dogs: Legion and Tencent NExT Studios' Synced: Off Planet.

Interestingly, a different form of ray tracing, known as path tracing, was used for the Windows 10 version of the game. This technology replicates the way light is transported throughout a scene, using direct lighting from natural as well as artificial sources.

Notably, most games with RTX ray tracing have used the technology for specific lighting effects and not as a total lighting model, making the Minecraft RTX Beta an industry-first.

Real-Time Ray Tracing: A Game Changer

NVIDIA’s Turing GPU and real-time ray tracing technology are witnessing a massive adoption in other areas, in addition to gaming. The company had earlier announced that more than 40 partners, including Adobe (ADBE - Free Report) , Autodesk, Dassault Systèmes, Pixar, Siemens, Unity, Unreal and Weta Digital, et al, support its RTX platform.

The rising momentum in the games, backing the ray-tracing feature, is a positive. In its last reported quarter, gaming revenues were up 56% on a year-over-year basis to $1.49 billion, owing to strong demand for GeForce desktop and notebook GPUs. New blockbuster games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s continued momentum in e-sports and the growing adoption of new RTX SUPER products were tailwinds for this segment.

The company is also benefiting from the adoption of real-time ray tracing in the professional visualization markets. Reportedly, RTX has been welcomed by more than 80% of film studios and 3D application providers. With real-time ray tracing, studios are capable of saving on the post-production time that accounts for the majority of expenses.

NVIDIA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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