Bilawal Bashir 
Minecraft is coming to Xbox Series X/S, but will it have ray tracing or any other new features that set it apart from other versions of the game?
Minecraft is already playable on the newest Xbox consoles from Microsoft alongside many other great voxel games. Still, there is no native version of the title for Xbox Series X/S. The Xbox One version is available thanks to the Series consoles’ backward compatibility, but it doesn’t take full advantage of the new hardware. This means Xbox players looking for an enhanced version of Minecraft for their newer and more powerful hardware were missing out.
That will seemingly change in the near future. The German video game rating board indicates that Microsoft is bringing the popular game to its newest consoles. Here’s what Minecraft on the Xbox Series X/S might bring and whether fans can hold out hope for ray tracing.
What is in Minecraft on Xbox Series X/S consoles?
Minecraft for Xbox Series X/S will likely have an increase in its native resolution. The Xbox Series X is a capable machine, and it can most certainly run Minecraft at 4K resolution at least with 60 FPS. Series S can also target a higher resolution and frame rate.
Nothing is officially confirmed about Minecraft on Xbox Series X/S consoles yet. There is no word from Minecraft developer Mojang or Microsoft, which owns the studio and IP.
Minecraft has seen many updates since its first release in 2011. Major content updates and game overhauls arrived in the game over the years. The new version on the Series consoles will almost certainly include all the major features and content available on other platforms.
The game is already available on virtually every gaming platform including PlayStation, Switch, Xbox, PC, and mobile devices. Much like the Xbox version, the PlayStation 4 version is playable on the PlayStation 5. There is no indication that a native PlayStation 5 version of Minecraft is in development.
Will there be ray tracing in Minecraft on Xbox Series X/S?
There is no indication that Minecraft on Xbox Series X/S will have ray tracing.
Microsoft has hinted at the inclusion of ray tracing on Series consoles even before the consoles launched back in 2020. In March 2022, Mojang released ray tracing support in the prototype code meant for Xbox consoles. The preview build was available to Xbox Insiders for a short time. The feature got quickly removed and Mojang denied any plans to bring ray tracing to consoles.
While the rating indicates that the game is coming, players won’t have a full picture of new features until confirmation comes from the Minecraft development team. There is no word on when that might come, however.
