Now out of beta, RTX Remix allows modders to upgrade classic games with cutting-edge graphics.
(Image credit: Nvidia / Orbifold Studios)
Ahead of GDC 2025, Nvidia has today announced a batch of new advances in neural rendering and RTX technology. Neural shaders are coming to Microsoft DirectX preview, there are major RTX Kit updates for Unreal Engine 5 (see our guide to the best game development software), and we have the full release of game-changing (literally) RTX Remix with a Half-Life 2 RTX demo on the way.
We already got a glimpse of Half-Life 2 RTX at Gamescom last year and a subsequent tease in the 20th anniversary tribute video. Over 100 contributors worked on the project as Orbifold Studios made use of Nvidia's RTX Remix generative AI abilities to update the game more quickly than could have been possible before. The last video had us excited, showing a game that looks familiar but totally contemporary too.
Half-Life 2 RTX | Demo with Full Ray Tracing and DLSS 4 Announce - YouTube
Nvidia RTX Remix was built to allow developers and modders to update classic games with cutting-edge ray tracing, allowing fans to relive old favourites in stunning detail while also introducing a new players to era-defining titles.
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To witness the tech's capabilities in action, Half-Life 2 owners will be able to download a free Half-Life 2 RTX demo from Steam from Tuesday (18 March). Showcasing Orbifold Studios’ work in Ravenholm and Nova Prospekt, the demo comes ahead of a planned full release in the future.
NVIDIA RTX Remix | Remaster the Classics with DLSS 4 and Neural Rendering - YouTube
RTX Remix was released in beta last year. It differs from other modding tools in that it opens up a vast catalogue of hundreds of classic games to be graphically remastered with enhanced visuals while preserving core gameplay. Now exiting beta, the full release comes with new capabilities, including DLSS 4 with multi-frame generation, RTX neural rendering tech and community-requested changes that enable modders to improve remasters, increase image quality, and accelerate performance.
Textures, models, lighting, effects and more can be captured, categorised and reassembled into an editable scene, and a relatively simple interface allows modders to drag and drop lights, move objects and copy-paste existing assets. Users can convert lights to be fully ray-traced, use AI to enhance textures and add DLSS to improve image quality and accelerate performance.
Community mod teams can even rebuild every asset with AAA-fidelity using PBR-based workflows to make highly detailed meshes with realistic material properties in place of the low resolution, low poly originals. And since RTX Remix runs on the flexible OpenUSD file format, mod artists can use virtually any of the best 3D modelling software, including Blender, Adobe Substance 3D Painter and Autodesk Maya to modify or rebuild assets.
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Exported mods are packaged with the RTX Remix Runtime. Players just need to launch the original game, and the Runtime will replace the original renderer with a modern Vulkan one, replacing each original asset and light with the remastered version live. The GPU giant says that already over 30,000 modders have experimented with hundreds of titles, and over 1 million gamers have played RTX Remix mods.
Nvidia has announced that over 100 games and apps now support DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, and more are coming soon, including Lost Soul Aside, Mecha BREAK, Phantom Blade Zero, Stellar Blade, Tides of Annihilation and Wild Assault.
DLSS 4 was introduced with the release of GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs (see our Nvidia GeForce 5090 FE review). Multi Frame Generation uses AI to generate up to three additional frames per traditionally rendered frame, working with the suite of DLSS technologies to multiply frame rates by up to 8X over traditional brute-force rendering, enabling gamers to max out visuals at the highest resolutions.
Other announcements from Nvidia today include the addition of neural shading support for Microsoft DirectX preview in April, unlocking the power of AI Tensor Cores in GeForce RTX GPUs inside of graphics shaders used to programme video games.
Nvidia has also released Unreal Engine 5 support for RTX Mega Geometry and RTX Hair through the RTX Branch of Unreal Engine.
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Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.
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