Cyberpunk 2077 Is About to Add One of Its Biggest Features Yet

Cyberpunk 2077 is about to add one its biggest and most advanced features yet, more than two years since its release. Since the game’s December 2020 release, and ahead of its Phantom Liberty expansion, CD Projekt Red has been regularly updating the game and improving it. And the next big update looks poised to release in April. More specifically, on April 11, Overdrive Mode will be added, which will in turn add path-tracing to the game. Also known as full ray-tracing, path-tracing provides more realistic lighting. In the video game space, it’s tech that’s hardly used because of how demanding it is on GPUs. 

“Path tracing, also known as full ray tracing, accurately simulates light throughout an entire scene,” writes NVIDIA of the announcement. “It’s used by visual effects artists to create film and TV graphics that are indistinguishable from reality. But until the arrival of GeForce RTX GPUs with RT Cores, and the AI-powered acceleration of NVIDIA DLSS, real-time video game path tracing was impossible because it is extremely GPU intensive.”

According to Pawel Kozlowski, a senior technology developer engineer at NVIDIA, this technology not only makes games look better, but it has the potential to “revolutinize the entire pipeline of how games are being created.”

Cyberpunk 2077 is available via PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X. According to the Internet, and CD Projekt Red itself, the game is vastly improved now compared to when it launched in a sketchy state. If you haven’t checked it out yet, or since then, now is a good time, but waiting for Overdrive Mode to arrive may be worth waiting for at this point. 

“Most of the Cyberpunk 2077 characters you’ll meet in Night City have different connections and perspectives on the setting, but they’ve all got one unifying point to stress: the possibilities of Night City are endless,” reads the opening of our review of the game. “Those possibilities draw people in and keep inhabitants entangled in the affairs of the city with everyone looking for their next big move, their next thing to do. Not everyone is as impressed with the city though and instead, say it’s just a city like any other and that people can find what they’re looking for elsewhere. As it turns out, Cyberpunk 2077 has a lot in common with its bustling, futuristic setting.”