Quake 2 & Minecraft RTX Updates Might be the Start for More Remasters

January 10, 2020 at 5:19pm
By Jason Stettner

While at CES 2020 I had a booking with NVIDIA and I was able to check out what they’re working on. This was partially a presentation on RTX technology in regards to ray tracing and the other effects that comes with that addition to games.

They had Minecraft, Deliver Us to the Moon, Control and Wolfenstein: YoungBlood there to check out as primary showcases. I spent a considerable amount of time playing the Minecraft RTX demo, as I love that game. I was also taking this time to ask some questions and get general additional details on what they’re doing in regards to this technology.

Right beside the Minecraft station was also Quake 2 RTX which I had recently played at home since there was a new update to that. There were some comparisons being made in regards to the water features, and I was curious if other similar classic games might get this type of upgraded treatment.

While they weren’t able to directly confirm anything in that regard, they did say that it’s something that’s being looked at and they’d like to do more games. That is, other classic games getting a remaster like we’ve seen with Quake 2. It was stated in a way that I feel something special is possibly being worked on. The team, NVIDIA Lightspeed Studios first handled Quake 2 and now they’re working on the Minecraft update.

They’ve definitely been busy, and remasters of other classics definitely aren’t off the table for development down the road. This could also mean that they’re actively working on some things that they’re not ready to talk about now. At the events it never hurts to ask I’m very curious what this type of update could do for other games.

On top of that, which special titles might get selected to receive this sort of boost in visual quality. It certainly has brought a lot of attention to an older game like with the second core Quake, and I’d wonder if they’d pick a popular title to do or perhaps something more niche.

It’s all about helping to develop the technology and application of various effects that are tied into the glorious ray tracing. That’s it for now, not many details but I feel there’s something coming up. It definitely doesn’t cut off the discussion that remastering more games isn’t happening. You can read our preview of Minecraft from the show, or check out the general RTX hub for more coverage of what NVIDIA has been working on.

Read our Minecraft CES RTX Preview
View our RTX Hub