PS5 Pro Ray Tracing Explained: What Changes?

PS5 Pro ray tracing gives developers more room to improve reflections, shadows, global illumination and other ray-traced effects in supported games. Standard PS5 already supports hardware ray tracing; PS5 Pro adds stronger capability that can reduce some rendering compromises or enable more ambitious effects.

The result is game-specific. One title may use the extra capability for reflections, another for lighting, and another to keep ray tracing at a higher performance target. For the broader console picture, see our PS5 Pro explained guide.

PS5 Pro ray tracing: quick answer

Question	Answer
Does standard PS5 already support ray tracing?	Yes.
What changes on PS5 Pro?	Developers have stronger ray-tracing capability to use in supported games.
Does every game benefit?	No. Ray-tracing enhancements are game-specific.
Do new Pro-specific RT effects need developer support?	Yes.
Is PSSR the same technology?	No. PSSR reconstructs images; ray tracing calculates selected lighting and visibility effects.
Does Game Boost add new ray-tracing effects?	No.
Is there a universal frame-rate result?	No. Frame-rate targets and graphics modes remain game-specific.

What is ray tracing?

Modern console games mainly use rasterization, which efficiently turns 3D geometry into screen pixels. Ray tracing adds selected rays to answer lighting and visibility questions that are harder to approximate with conventional techniques.

Developers commonly use it for reflections, shadows, indirect lighting or ambient occlusion rather than ray tracing the entire image. Modern PS5 games therefore use hybrid rendering, and PS5 Pro does not turn every title into a fully ray-traced or path-traced workload.

What changed with PS5 Pro ray tracing?

Sony’s current PS5 Pro page describes Advanced Ray Tracing through ray-traced reflections, shadows and high-quality global illumination. Developers can spend the extra capability differently from game to game.

At PS5 Pro’s September 2024 announcement, Sony said rays could be cast at roughly double and, in some cases, triple the speed of the standard PS5. That is historical launch framing, not a guaranteed 2x or 3x increase in a game’s RT quality, resolution or frame rate.

Sony has not published a simple public RT-unit count or universal ray-intersection figure for players to turn into a game-by-game formula. Our PS5 Pro specs explained article covers the broader hardware changes.

Rain-soaked city street with a dark sports car and warm building reflections on wet pavement — Reflections are one of the most visible ways ray tracing can change a game scene.

Ray tracing on PS5 vs PS5 Pro

Attribute	Standard PS5	PS5 Pro
Hardware ray tracing	Yes	Yes, with stronger capability
RT reflections, shadows and GI	Game-specific	Can be expanded or improved in supported games
Exact public Sony RT-unit count	No verified public count	No verified public count
Universal 2x/3x game gain	No	No
Developer implementation required for new RT effects	Yes	Yes
Full path tracing as a platform-wide feature	No	No

The practical difference is how much rendering budget developers can devote to ray-traced work while meeting their chosen image-quality and performance targets.

What PS5 Pro ray tracing can change in games

Ray-traced reflections

Reflections are one of the clearest uses of extra RT capability. Developers can make them available in more situations, include more reflected objects or extend the effect across additional graphics modes. Unlike screen-space techniques, ray tracing can account for geometry outside the current camera frame.

Gran Turismo 7 is a direct official example: Polyphony Digital says PS5 Pro made ray tracing during races possible, including cars reflecting other cars and even parts of themselves. Ubisoft has also expanded ray-traced reflections across additional PS5 Pro modes in its Assassin’s Creed games.

Ray-traced shadows and ambient occlusion

Ray tracing can also change shadowing. Avalanche Software revised Hogwarts Legacy‘s Fidelity RT presentation with new ray-traced shadows and improved reflections. BioWare has separately used PS5 Pro headroom to bring ray-traced ambient occlusion into a higher-performance mode. Neither effect is universal.

Global illumination and indirect lighting

Ray-traced global illumination, or RTGI, models indirect light bouncing through a scene. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a strong example: Ubisoft says PS5 Pro Performance mode uses RTGI where the standard PS5 Performance presentation uses pre-baked GI, while higher-quality Pro modes can add ray-traced reflections. That remains a game-specific implementation.

Split comparison of a dark ruined corridor and the same scene with brighter reflected light and visible sun rays — Ray tracing can change how light, shadows and reflections behave within the same scene.

Does PS5 Pro ray tracing require a patch?

The hardware capability exists in PS5 Pro, but developers still have to make a game use it.

Scenario	Developer implementation required?	Later patch necessarily required?
PS5 Pro hardware RT capability exists	No	No
Existing PS5 game receives new RT reflections	Yes	Usually yes
Existing PS5 game receives higher-quality RT	Yes	Usually yes
New PS5 Pro Enhanced game ships with RT support	Yes	No
Game Boost	No for general headroom	No universal patch requirement
PSSR	Game-specific support	Depends on the game
Graphics modes	Developer-defined	Depends on the game

Existing games commonly receive Pro-specific rendering work through an update, while new games can ship with support built in. For the broader title list, see our PS5 Pro Enhanced games guide.

PS5 Pro ray tracing vs PSSR

Ray tracing and PSSR solve different problems. Ray tracing calculates selected lighting and visibility effects, while PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution reconstructs a rendered image toward a higher-quality output.

Developers can use both in the same game, but neither requires the other. Reconstruction can form part of a wider rendering budget, yet it does not “power” ray tracing or make ray traversal inherently faster. Our PS5 Pro PSSR guide explains the reconstruction side.

PS5 Pro ray tracing vs Game Boost

PS5 Pro Game Boost can give existing compatible code more performance headroom where that software can scale. It does not automatically add new Pro-specific ray-traced reflections, shadows, global illumination, ambient occlusion or graphics modes.

An unpatched game with scalable RT could potentially use extra headroom, but adding a new PS5 Pro-specific RT effect normally requires deliberate game-level implementation.

Verified PS5 Pro ray-tracing examples

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Ubisoft uses PS5 Pro to push several RT features in different modes. Its Performance mode uses RTGI at 60fps, while Quality and Balanced modes can use ray-traced reflections.

In its official PS5 Pro technical deep dive, Ubisoft says its own BVH8 implementation accelerated the hardware-ray-tracing GPU tasks used by Assassin’s Creed Shadows by about 300%.

That 300% figure belongs specifically to Ubisoft’s implementation. It is not evidence that PS5 Pro ray tracing is universally 300% faster.

Gran Turismo 7

Polyphony Digital says PS5 Pro enables ray tracing during races, an effect that was previously too restricted for that gameplay context. Cars can reflect other cars as well as parts of their own bodywork, showing how additional RT budget can change where an existing visual technique is practical.

Hogwarts Legacy

Avalanche Software focused part of its Pro work on Fidelity RT. The studio documented new ray-traced reflections and ray-traced shadows, making this a clear example of stronger RT hardware being spent on quality rather than a universal frame-rate uplift.

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced

Ubisoft’s 2026 PS5 Pro breakdown provides a current example. On Pro, the game extends ray-tracing support across its graphics modes, including ray-traced global illumination and ray-traced specular reflections. That demonstrates another use of the extra hardware: expanding where an RT feature is available rather than merely raising one quality setting.

Does better ray tracing reduce frame rate?

Ray tracing still competes with rasterized geometry, shading, particles, resolution and other GPU work. PS5 Pro gives developers more room but does not remove those trade-offs.

Some teams retain RT while targeting 60fps; others spend more budget on heavier RT in a lower-frame-rate mode or extend an effect into more modes. Assassin’s Creed Shadows divides RT features differently across 30fps, 40fps and 60fps targets.

Those numbers belong to that game, not to PS5 Pro as a universal rule. For broader explanations of Fidelity, Performance, 40fps and high-frame-rate modes, see our PS5 graphics modes guide.

What PS5 Pro ray tracing cannot do

It does not automatically add ray tracing to older or unpatched games.
It does not guarantee 60fps in every ray-traced title.
It does not make PS5 Pro a universally path-traced platform.
It does not guarantee a 2x or 3x improvement in every game’s RT workload.
It is not the same technology as PSSR, and neither feature inherently requires the other.
It does not mean every PS5 Pro Enhanced title uses ray tracing.
It does not mean every reflection, shadow or light source in a supported game is ray traced.

Close-up of wet pavement reflecting blue, red and amber lights at night — Ray-traced effects are most noticeable where reflective materials and complex lighting interact.

Is ray tracing the biggest PS5 Pro graphics upgrade?

Advanced Ray Tracing is one of PS5 Pro’s major graphics technologies, but it works alongside additional graphics headroom and PSSR rather than replacing them. Which feature matters most depends on the game. A title with ambitious lighting may spend heavily on RT, while another may prioritize resolution, reconstruction or a higher frame-rate target.

Verdict

The biggest PS5 Pro ray-tracing change is not one universal quality multiplier. It is additional rendering headroom that developers can spend differently: broader reflections, ray-traced shadows, global illumination, higher performance targets or more RT-enabled graphics modes.

Standard PS5 already supports ray tracing. PS5 Pro makes more ambitious implementations possible in supported software, but developers still decide where the technology is used and which trade-offs are worth making.

Frequently asked questions

Does every PS5 Pro game use ray tracing?

No. Ray tracing is game-specific, and a PS5 Pro Enhanced title can focus on other improvements such as image reconstruction, resolution or frame rate instead.

Does PS5 Pro ray tracing require a patch?

An existing game generally needs a game-specific update if developers are adding new Pro-specific ray-tracing features. A new game can ship with PS5 Pro support already included, so a later patch is not inherently required.

Is ray tracing better on PS5 Pro than PS5?

PS5 Pro has stronger ray-tracing capability, and verified games use it for broader or more ambitious effects. However, exactly what improves remains game-specific.

Can PS5 Pro use ray tracing at 60fps?

Yes, specific games demonstrate ray-traced effects at 60fps targets. That does not mean every ray-traced PS5 Pro game or mode runs at 60fps.

Is PSSR the same as ray tracing?

No. PSSR reconstructs and upscales a rendered image, while ray tracing calculates selected lighting and visibility effects such as reflections, shadows and global illumination.

Does Game Boost add ray tracing?

No. Game Boost can provide additional performance headroom to compatible existing code, but it does not create new PS5 Pro-specific ray-tracing features.