NVIDIA and Microsoft Open Next Era of Gaming With Groundbreaking Neural Shading Technology
Rhea-AI Summary
NVIDIA has announced major advancements in RTX neural rendering technologies in partnership with Microsoft. The collaboration will bring neural shading support to Microsoft DirectX preview in April 2025, enabling AI Tensor Cores in GeForce RTX GPUs to accelerate neural networks within game graphics pipelines.
Key announcements include:
- RTX Kit updates with Unreal Engine 5 support for RTX Mega Geometry and RTX Hair features
- Official release of NVIDIA RTX Remix open-source platform
- New Half-Life 2 RTX demo launching March 18, featuring full ray tracing and latest neural rendering enhancements
- Achievement of 100+ DLSS 4 games and apps milestone
The new RTX Mega Geometry technology enables developers to use up to 100x more triangles than current standards, while RTX Hair introduces linear swept sphere primitives for improved hair and fur rendering. DLSS 4's Multi Frame Generation can multiply frame rates by up to 8x over traditional rendering on GeForce RTX 50 Series hardware.
Positive
- Partnership with Microsoft to integrate neural shading into DirectX
- DLSS 4 adoption reached 100+ games/apps milestone faster than previous versions
- Up to 8x frame rate improvement with DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation
- RTX Mega Geometry enables 100x more triangles in game development
- Strong developer adoption with 30,000+ modders using RTX Remix platform
Negative
- Ray-traced game scenes with complex geometry face exponential performance costs
- Technology requires specific GeForce RTX 50 Series hardware for full benefits
News Market Reaction 1 Alert
On the day this news was published, NVDA declined 0.14%, reflecting a mild negative market reaction.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Next-Generation Games Will Be Accelerated by AI Within Shaders; 100+ DLSS 4 Games and Apps Now Available; ‘Half-Life 2 RTX’ Demo Released at GDC
SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NVIDIA today announced ahead of the Game Developers Conference (GDC) groundbreaking enhancements to NVIDIA RTX™ neural rendering technologies.
NVIDIA has partnered with Microsoft to bring neural shading support to the Microsoft DirectX preview in April, giving developers access to AI Tensor Cores in NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ GPUs to accelerate neural networks from within a game’s graphics pipeline.
Neural shading represents a revolution in graphics programming, combining AI with traditional rendering to dramatically boost frame rates, enhance image quality and reduce system resource usage.
“Microsoft is adding cooperative vector support to DirectX and HLSL, starting with a preview this April,” said Shawn Hargreaves, Direct3D development manager at Microsoft. “This will advance the future of graphics programming by enabling neural rendering across the gaming industry. Unlocking Tensor Cores on NVIDIA RTX will allow developers to fully leverage RTX Neural Shaders for richer, more immersive experiences on Windows.”
In addition, NVIDIA RTX Kit, a suite of neural rendering technologies for game developers, is receiving major updates with Unreal Engine 5 support for the RTX Mega Geometry and RTX Hair features.
Enabling modders to create stunning remasters of classic games, the NVIDIA RTX Remix open-source platform officially released today. Plus, a new playable Half-Life 2 RTX demo featuring the latest neural rendering enhancements — such as full ray tracing, NVIDIA DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation, RTX Neural Radiance Cache, RTX Skin and more — will be available on Tuesday, March 18.
NVIDIA is also celebrating a major milestone with over 100 DLSS 4 games and apps now available.
RTX Kit Arrives in Unreal Engine 5
The number of triangles used to create games has increased exponentially over the past three decades. With the introduction of the Unreal Engine 5 Nanite geometry system, developers can build open worlds filled with hundreds of millions of triangles.
As ray-traced game scenes explode in geometric complexity, however, the cost of ray tracing grows exponentially, making it impossible to achieve real-time frame rates. RTX Mega Geometry accelerates ray tracing of scenes with complex geometry, enabling developers to use up to 100x more triangles than today’s standard. RTX Mega Geometry is coming to developers from the NVIDIA RTX (NvRTX) branch of Unreal Engine 5.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs introduced RTX Hair, a linear swept sphere primitive that offers a major advancement for accelerating the ray tracing of hair and fur. Replacing typical triangle primitives, linear swept spheres more accurately represent individual strands of hair, improving image quality and performance in rendering realistic digital humans. RTX Hair is coming to the NvRTX branch of Unreal Engine 5.
At the CES trade show, NVIDIA showcased neural rendering capabilities through its “Zorah” technology demo. At GDC, an updated Zorah demo built in Unreal Engine 5 features the latest advancements in neural rendering, including RTX Mega Geometry, RTX Hair, ReSTIR Path Tracing and ReSTIR Direct Illumination.
Return to ‘Half-Life 2’ With RTX Demo
The official release of RTX Remix — featuring DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, a host of new RTX neural rendering technologies and numerous community-requested upgrades — lets modders deliver stunning RTX remasters with even better image quality and higher frame rates.
A year ago, NVIDIA released RTX Remix in beta, enabling remasters of classic games with fully ray-traced lighting, enhanced materials and the latest RTX technologies.
Over 30,000 modders have since used the platform to mod hundreds of classic titles, and over 1 million gamers have played RTX Remix mods such as NVIDIA Lightspeed Studios’ Portal with RTX and the modder-made Portal: Prelude RTX.
Half-Life 2 owners can experience the capabilities of RTX Remix across the environments of Ravenholm and Nova Prospekt by downloading a free Half-Life 2 RTX demo from Steam starting March 18.
The remaster is being developed by four of Half-Life 2’s top mod teams, working together under the banner of Orbifold Studios. Half-Life 2 RTX features full ray tracing, remastered assets, DLSS 4, NVIDIA Reflex, RTX Neural Radiance Cache, RTX Skin and RTX Volumetrics.
Over 100 DLSS 4 Games and Apps Out Now
DLSS 4 was introduced with the release of GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs, receiving an incredible response from gamers and rapidly adopted by game developers. It is now supported in over 100 games and apps, reaching this milestone two years quicker than DLSS 3 to become the most rapidly adopted NVIDIA game technology of all time.
DLSS 4 debuted Multi Frame Generation, which uses AI to generate up to three additional frames per traditionally rendered frame, working with the complete suite of DLSS technologies to multiply frame rates by up to 8x over traditional rendering. This massive performance improvement on GeForce RTX 50 Series graphics cards and laptops enables gamers to max out visuals at the highest resolutions and play at incredible frame rates.
In addition, Lost Soul Aside, Mecha BREAK, Phantom Blade Zero, Stellar Blade, Tides of Annihilation and Wild Assault will launch with DLSS 4, giving GeForce RTX gamers the definitive PC experience in each title.
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the world leader in accelerated computing.
For further information, contact:
Caiti Sullivan
NVIDIA Corporation
(480) 292-6425
caitis@nvidia.com
Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: the benefits, impact, availability, and performance of NVIDIA’s products, services, and technologies; and third parties adopting or offering NVIDIA’s products and technologies and the benefits and impact thereof are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic conditions; our reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test our products; the impact of technological development and competition; development of new products and technologies or enhancements to our existing product and technologies; market acceptance of our products or our partners' products; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or demands; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of our products or technologies when integrated into systems; as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the most recent reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on the company's website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
Many of the products and features described herein remain in various stages and will be offered on a when-and-if-available basis. The statements above are not intended to be, and should not be interpreted as a commitment, promise, or legal obligation, and the development, release, and timing of any features or functionalities described for our products is subject to change and remains at the sole discretion of NVIDIA. NVIDIA will have no liability for failure to deliver or delay in the delivery of any of the products, features or functions set forth herein.
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FAQ
What new features does NVIDIA's neural shading technology bring to DirectX?
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What improvement does RTX Mega Geometry bring to game development?
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