In 2018, we began a gaming revolution with the launch of 1st generation GeForce RTX graphics cards. Since the release of the very first games decades ago, lighting had been faked, and various hacks employed to approximate shadows, reflections, and other real-world properties. GeForce RTX made real-time ray tracing a reality, enabling developers to realistically render reflections and lighting, making their games more immersive and enjoyable. And with DLSS 1.0, we invented a game-changing way for players to accelerate frame rates.

Back in 2018 there were 4 RTX games, 37% of GeForce RTX gamers enabled ray tracing, and 26% activated DLSS 1.0.

Five years later, we’re at the 3rd generation of RTX, with the release of GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards. Now, DLSS 3 multiplies performance with AI-accelerated Frame Generation in 30 games. DLSS 2 accelerates frame rates in over 280 games and apps with image quality that’s as-good, or sometimes even better than native resolution TAA rendering. NVIDIA Reflex reduces system latency for a more responsive and enjoyable experience in over 70 games. And new technologies such as Shader Execution Reordering (SER), Opacity Micromaps (OMM), NVIDIA RTX Direct Illumination (RTXDI), and RTX Global Illumination (RTXGI) enable developers to create incredible ray-traced effects with performant frame rates and far less effort.

Among gamers, the massive strides RTX has made are well known, and the latest integrations are used by the majority of RTX owners. Of the millions of GeForce RTX desktop GPU owners, 83% of 40 Series gamers enabled ray tracing, and 79% of 40 Series gamers accelerated performance with DLSS in RTX capable games.

The popularity and adoption of ray tracing and DLSS has outpaced other advancements and technologies, such as 4K, which is used by 28% of gamers, and 144Hz+ high refresh rate gaming monitors, which are used by 62% of GeForce RTX 40 Series desktops GPU owners.