Does the Nintendo Switch 2 support ray tracing?

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Yes, the Nintendo Switch 2 supports real-time ray tracing—a first for any Nintendo console. This is enabled by dedicated RT (Ray Tracing) cores built into the NVIDIA Ampere GPU.

What Is Ray Tracing?

Ray tracing simulates how light behaves in the real world, calculating:

• Reflections on glossy surfaces and water
• Shadows with realistic softness and falloff
• Lighting interactions for more natural ambient illumination

This creates more realistic and immersive visuals compared to traditional rendering techniques.

How It's Used on Switch 2

Ray tracing on Switch 2 is more limited than on high-end PCs or current-gen consoles like PS5/Xbox Series X. Developers typically implement it for specific effects:

| Effect | What You See | |--------|--------------| | Reflections | Glossy floors, water surfaces, mirrors that actually reflect | | Shadows | More accurate shadow casting and natural falloff | | Ambient lighting | Realistic light bounce in environments | | Specific highlights | Rather than full-scene ray tracing |

Performance Considerations

Ray tracing is computationally expensive. Games using it on Switch 2 typically:

| Consideration | Typical Implementation | |---------------|----------------------| | Mode | Enabled only when docked (not handheld) | | Scope | Applied to limited elements, not entire scenes | | Balance | Used alongside DLSS to maintain frame rates |

What This Means

Ray tracing represents the Switch 2 catching up to modern gaming technology standards. Implementation is necessarily more conservative than on dedicated gaming PCs or more powerful consoles, but it's a significant advancement for Nintendo hardware.

Expect some games to heavily feature it while others skip it entirely to maximize frame rates or resolution.