PS5 Pro Achieves Major Breakthrough! Successfully Implements Path Tracing
The well-known technical analysis agency "Digital Foundry" today published an article revealing a shocking technical achievement: Codemasters developers have successfully run a path tracing prototype version of "F1 25" on the PS5 Pro.
Achieving this rendering technology, typically limited to top-tier PC graphics cards, on the current most powerful console was hailed by Digital Foundry as a "milestone achievement."
According to the content of a presentation titled "Path Tracing at 200 Miles Per Hour" at GDC 2026, the development team showcased the results of this research:
The prototype version uses a 1080P internal rendering resolution, which is then scaled to 4K using Sony's proprietary PSSR technology.
Simply porting the PC code to the console resulted in a frame rate of only around 24 frames (with a latency of 42.32ms). However, by introducing "ORCA," an advanced path tracing prototype developed by the EA Seed research institute, the average frame generation time was reduced to 23.36ms, equivalent to approximately 43 frames, leaving ample room for achieving a stable 30 frames output on the console.
In comparison, the RX 9070 XT on the PC platform achieves a stable 30 frames when running the path tracing performance of the Abu Dhabi night race at 4K/FSR3 quality mode.
To get path tracing running on the hardware-constrained console, the development team adopted a differentiated strategy:
The team abandoned the complex radiance caches used by most path tracing games, instead opting for dynamic diffuse global illumination (DDGI) to handle secondary light bounces. This approach provides a more stable light and shadow structure during high-speed driving.
Digital Foundry pointed out that even a native 864P resolution on the PS5 Pro, after PSSR processing, can deliver an excellent visual experience, which provides possibilities for further reducing rendering pressure and improving special effects quality.
Although this is still in the internal research stage and is not a confirmed feature of the official game, its significance is extraordinary:
The success of this prototype proves that the feasibility of running path tracing on the PS5 Pro (and future next-generation consoles) is far beyond imagination.
Digital Foundry speculates that while the complex multi-light environment of night or rainy tracks remains a significant challenge, the future release of a special PS5 Pro path tracing enhanced version is not impossible.
For a long time, path tracing has been considered an "exclusive luxury" for PC players. If this scheme of "F1 25" can be commercialized, it will completely rewrite players' perception of the upper limit of console performance.