Horizon Forbidden West’s PC port was initially considered for ray tracing support. However, this plan was eventually scrapped due to various reasons, one of which was the massive scale of the action RPG game.
In an interview with Digital Foundry, Michiel Roza from Nixxes and Jeroen Krebbers from Guerrilla Games disclosed this information. Apart from the game’s scale and lengthy cinematic duration, the developers felt that Horizon Forbidden West already boasted stunning visuals.
Another reason for the absence of ray tracing in Horizon Forbidden West is the prevalent use of alpha-tested trees in most of its content, making it challenging to implement ray tracing, even for shadows.
Guerrilla Games also aimed to ensure parity between the PlayStation 5 and PC versions in terms of gaming experience, with ray tracing not being their priority. Nonetheless, they expressed keen interest in the technology and did not rule out its implementation in future game titles.
Horizon Forbidden West is the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn. After its initial release as a PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 exclusive in 2022, the thrilling adventure with breathtaking visuals finally made its way to PC platforms on March 21, 2024.
