Nvidia announced official raytracing support for Diablo 4 at the Consumer Electronics Show (“CES”) 2024. The feature is set to be activated on PC starting in March. It’s actually good news, but it is not received well everywhere. Some players say that improving gameplay is more important than prettier shadows.
What is improving in Diablo 4:
- Raytracing is a technology that enhances lighting and shadows. Simply put: light becomes more realistic, and the overall image appears smoother, though often at the cost of frame rate.
- When raytracing was introduced, it was considered a revolutionary feature. The first MMORPG with raytracing boasted its stunning graphics.
- Diablo 4 is set to receive this feature in March. However, you will need a raytracing-capable graphics card for it on PC.
This is what players say: The announcement is received with mixed feelings on Reddit and other platforms. A major point of criticism is that raytracing was originally supposed to be available in Diablo 4 at release in June 2023.
Already in beta, Diablo 4 had raytracing, but it was removed before launch – presumably because the feature was not yet mature enough. Now it is being delivered, 8 months later. Players are complaining that this is Blizzard’s definition of “soon” after release.
However, criticism about the waiting time is rather limited, as players are satisfied that a purely (and rather minor) quality improvement is indeed coming. However, there is also criticism regarding the upcoming feature.
Nvidia shows a direct comparison between Diablo 4 with and without raytracing in the video:
“Cool, but the last thing we need”
Although Diablo 4 has received a lot of praise with Season 2 and players feel that the game is really good now, they still see potential for improvement. They believe that Blizzard should focus on gameplay first before considering raytracing.
In a discussion on Reddit, it is mentioned: “It doesn’t seem like the thing Blizzard should be working on right now. This is something that should have been lower on the priority list… At least the game looks a bit better now when you grind Duriel 1,200 times.”
The corresponding, cynical comment has over 560 upvotes and is thus more popular than most threads in the subreddit. However, there is also significant backlash from other users.
Comments include that the department currently working on raytracing is surely not focused on gameplay elements. After all, Blizzard doesn’t work on exactly one improvement at a time.
In game development, it is often the case that teams working on things like graphic improvements and gameplay don’t hinder each other. So it’s likely that both are being developed simultaneously.
Better graphics may not be what the game needs right now, but it is certainly something many players will enjoy. However, discussions surrounding Diablo 4 are quite difficult at the moment. The topic is so emotionally charged that there is hardly any objective criticism, only absolute pros and cons. It goes so far that players who simply like Diablo 4 are directly attacked.
