Battlefield 2042 tech trailer shows off DLSS, ray tracing, and a choppy chopper sequence

DICE has released a new Battlefield 2042 tech trailer showing off the PC-exclusive pretties that will be coming to those of you with high-end Nvidia cards. The game will support Nvidia DLSS, Nvidia Reflex and ray tracing, and as you can see from about 30 seconds into the trailer accompanies these with what look like significant frame dips.

Bit odd. This could just be down to how the footage was captured or any manner of other reasons, but check out the helicopter sequence that starts about 34 seconds in. There's a hell of a lot going on, to be sure, but the performance here can only be described as choppy. Perhaps they didn't turn the DLSS on?

Another detail is that the release bumpf mentions only "ray-traced ambient occlusion,"  which accurately adds shadows where things occlude light. But this is only one of several possible RTX features: indeed, Battlefield V's comprehensive RTX support saw it viewed as something of the golden child in this area.

Battlefield 2042 recently had a beta period, and while our Morgan found it rough around the edges he also found it reminded him of why he loved Battlefield in the first place. Another early access period starts on November 12, and the game launches November 19.

Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."

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