Nvidia has officially announced that both ray tracing and DLSS technologies are coming to Fortnite, making the cartoony battle royale game look gorgeous and realistic. The announcement comes while the Marvel universe is taking over Epic Games’ immensely popular game in a new seasonal event.

Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 4 kicked off by introducing a host of Marvel superheroes led by the Mighty Thor himself. The team of characters is opposed by the existential threat that is Galactus, Devourer of Worlds, who is currently on his way to destroy the Fortnite realm. As much as it all sounds a bit out of place, the unlikely crossover has already been confirmed as canon by Marvel. That basically means that Fortnite is now part of its global entertainment empire.

To give Fortnite an even more substantial popularity boost, it's been revealed that the battle royale title will soon be treated with RTX and DLSS support thanks to a new agreement between Nvidia and Epic. The game feels weirdly realistic in the RTX reveal trailer released by Nvidia, with all the tasty light distortions and reflections looking absolutely amazing. As detailed by the GPU maker, not only will these technologies create a beautiful, more sophisticated image, but they also improve the overall performance on PC, thanks to Tensor Cores present on GeForce GPUs belonging to 20 and 30 series. Another piece of technological advancement to take advantage of in Fortnite is Nvidia Reflex, which basically reduces the system input lag (referred to as click-to-display latency) resulting in a more responsive experience for users. This is crucial for all competitive video games, especially fast-paced ones like Fortnite.


The visual improvements planned for Fortnite are expected to arrive this September in another seasonal update. Fortnite will receive “super-accurate reflections” enabled on all imaginable environmental surfaces thanks to ray tracing. Another huge enhancement will affect how in-game dynamic shadows work, giving them a sharper, more realistic look. Finally, the update will incorporate RTX-improved ambient occlusion along with global illumination, all adding up to a stunning jump to a previously impossible level of visual quality. If it all looks half as good in the actual game as it does in the trailer, Fortnite players are in for a real treat in September - at least those with a top-of-the-line gaming rig.

Although Fortnite is best known for its simplistic visual style, enabling native RTX support in 2020 is definitely a justified step by Epic Games. The title released back in 2017, and considering the rapid visual progress in the industry, Fortnite desperately needed a graphics update to keep pace. Ray tracing makes even ordinary-looking games shine like diamonds, as demonstrated by, for instance, Minecraft's recent RTX trailer. With Fortnite, the RTX treatment benefits the game even more.