I’m throwing my hat into the ring and saying that RT is definitely the future. This gen is the awkward first step that we have to have, and we will see big improvements over the next 12-18 months.

The only complaining I’ve seen stems from the notion that the cards need to run games at full settings and achieve 4K/60 output at minimum, which is a fair comment. I think everyone was expecting a GTX1180 that would nail this. But we’re at a time when 4K screens are not totally ubiquitous, yet 8K is on the horizon and graphics cards are having a hard time keeping up with pixel counts while keeping costs at a reasonable level.

It’s almost like tyre manufacturers that are struggling to keep up with power outputs from the latest supercars.

I’d say that there is a 50/50 chance that both Sony and Microsoft will announce ray tracing for their next gen consoles, so then the tech will be ubiquitous and developers can unify their lighting systems. Then we will see some new techniques to make ray tracing faster and more efficient.

It should be noted that Polyphony Digital has been using real time ray tracing in experimental builds of Gran Turismo, and used it to bake-in the lighting effects on GT Sport. There’s already a push towards it outside the PC space.