How Ray Tracing Impacts Gameplay in Forza Horizon 6

[DreamTide]

In Forza Horizon 6, Ray Tracing (RT) isn't just a visual upgrade—it changes how you experience the open-world environment and interact with your car. Compared to Forza Horizon 5, RT is now applied broadly during gameplay, making the world feel alive and vehicles feel grounded in it.

Key Visual and Gameplay Impacts

The biggest change comes from moving away from static or pre-calculated lighting to dynamic, real-time lighting.

Ray-Traced Global Illumination (RTGI): This feature calculates how light bounces across surfaces in real time. Shadows are softer and more natural, and colors from one surface subtly affect nearby surfaces. On busy city streets or wet roads, the world feels cohesive, making each scene more believable. You can literally see sunlight reflecting off buildings and bouncing onto your car realistically.

Ray-Traced Reflections: Unlike older titles that reserved RT for modes like Forzavista, Forza Horizon 6 applies reflections in real-time during races. Cars reflect each other, shiny surfaces mirror the environment, and puddles on the road become dynamic mirrors. This adds a layer of realism that not only looks great but can also subtly affect gameplay—like spotting another car in a reflection.

Enhanced Immersion: Together, RTGI and reflections make vehicles feel like they belong in the world. Cars no longer feel like they're "floating" on the track. Instead, they're visually connected to roads, water, and other objects, enhancing depth perception and overall immersion.

Performance and Platform Differences

Ray tracing is demanding, so its impact depends on your hardware:

PC: The full RT experience, including Full Reflections + RTGI, is best on high-end GPUs. Running 4K at 60 FPS with these effects typically requires cards like the NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti or RTX 5090.

Xbox Series X|S: Consoles prioritize a mix of RT features and performance. You'll often see ray-traced reflections on car bodies, while the environment may rely on Screen Space Reflections (SSR) to maintain smooth gameplay.

Upscaling Tech: To balance visuals with framerate, Forza Horizon 6 supports NVIDIA DLSS 4 and AMD FSR 4, which use AI-based upscaling and frame generation. This lets players enjoy RT without massive drops in FPS, especially at higher resolutions.

Ray tracing in Forza Horizon 6 isn't just eye candy. It improves spatial awareness, enhances immersion, and gives players subtle visual cues that can influence racing strategy. If your hardware can handle it, turning RT on transforms the way you see—and drive—in the game.