One of the most exciting PS5 features, along with the console's near-instant loading times, is its ability to support ray tracing. For those unfamiliar with the concept, ray tracing is a complicated rendering technique that produces more realistic lighting effects by imitating light in a natural environment. It can be quite taxing even on powerful PCs, but on the PS5, ray tracing is enabled for many different titles, with a steadily growing list.
Some of these titles are among the best PS5 games you can play. We're keeping track of all the new and updated titles that are using this new technology.
Most games that feature both a quality and performance mode only support ray tracing in their quality modes (these will sometimes be referred to as a favor graphics mode, resolution mode, or quality mode). If you choose a mode that favors performance (sometimes referred to as its frame rate mode), you usually won't be getting ray tracing. There are exceptions to this rule, like Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition, which offers ray tracing capabilities in both its graphics and performance modes. In this case, you may see discrepancies with how ray tracing is implemented, but it still renders for both. We have to emphasize however that these types of scenarios are fairly rare so far.
List of PS5 games with ray tracing
| Game | PS5 ray tracing | Resolution | Frame rate w/ ray tracing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Astro's Playroom | Yes | 4K | 60 FPS |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | Yes | Dynamic 4K | 60 FPS |
| Chorus | Yes | — | — |
| Control Ultimate Edition | Yes | 1440p | 30 FPS |
| Deathloop | Yes | 4K | 30 FPS |
| Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition | Yes (Performance and Graphics) | 1080p (Performance) 4K (Graphics) | 60 FPS (Performance and Graphics) |
| DIRT 5 | Yes | Dynamic 4K | 60 FPS |
| DOOM Eternal | Yes | Dynamic 1800p | 60 FPS |
| Forspoken* | Yes | — | — |
| Ghostrunner | Yes | 4K | 60 FPS |
| Ghostwire: Tokyo | Yes | 1800p/1080p | 30 FPS/60 FPS |
| Gran Turismo 7 | Yes | 4K | 60 FPS |
| Maneater | Yes | 4K | 60 FPS |
| Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy | Yes | Dynamic 4K | 30 FPS |
| Metro Exodus | Yes | — | 60 FPS |
| NBA 2K21 | Yes | 4K | 60 FPS |
| Observer: System Redux | Yes | — | — |
| Pragmata* | Yes | — | — |
| Quantum Error* | Yes | — | — |
| Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart | Yes | Dynamic 4K | 60 FPS |
| Resident Evil Village | Yes | Dynamic 4K | — |
| Resident Evil 2 | Yes | 4K | 60 FPS |
| Resident Evil 3 | Yes | 4K | 60 FPS |
| Resident Evil 7: Biohazard | Yes | 4K | 60 FPS |
| Ride 4 | Yes | Dynamic 4K | 60 FPS |
| Saints Row | Yes | 1080/1440p | Unlocked |
| Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Yes | 4K | 60 FPS |
| Spider-Man Remastered | Yes | Dynamic 4K | 60 FPS |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | Yes | 4K | 30 FPS |
*Unreleased games/updates that the developers have confirmed will support PS5 ray tracing. Anticipated resolution and frame rates may change at launch.
Trace these games down
Ray tracing can be used in various ways, including more accurate lighting, along with realistic reflections on glass, metal, and in pools of liquid. Alternatively, developers can opt to use ray tracing to improve a game's overall image quality, increasing the detail of shadows as opposed to using shiny reflections. This technology is still in its early days, so we'll continue to see more and more unique ways that developers can use ray tracing.
The PS5 now supports VRR. When the system is connected to a compatible TV, it can take advantage of this feature and use it to smooth out framerates that might not otherwise reach a locked target. As the list of PS5 games with VRR support grows, this could mean that developers can include ray tracing without sacrificing a game's performance mode, which targets a higher framerate.
We've also compiled a list of every PS5 game that supports DualSense haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, along with a list of PS5 games that support 120 FPS. If you've yet to test out what the DualSense can truly do, I highly recommend checking out Astro's Playroom, which comes packed in with every PS5 console. It's a masterful showcase of the incredible engineering Sony pulled off.
