Minecraft’s Xbox Series X/S version tease sparks native release and ray tracing speculations

There is speculation about the possibility of a native version of Minecraft for Xbox Series X and S consoles following the game’s recent classification in Germany. This information was observed on Twitter.

Minecraft for Xbox Series has been rated in Germany (USK).

There is currently no native Xbox Series X or S version of the game. This suggests a current-gen upgrade for the game is imminent. pic.twitter.com/r1tHEL4LOr

— Andrew Marmo (@the_marmolade) August 17, 2023

Based on the screenshot shared in the tweet, the game appears to include comic book-style violence, tension, and potentially scary moments. However, it has been deemed safe for children aged six and up.

Currently, players have to play the Xbox One version of Minecraft on the newer Xbox Series X/S consoles through the backward compatibility feature. Backward compatibility lets you play classic games on new hardware with the latest features and performance improvements—no need to worry about old games becoming obsolete when upgrading your console.

However, the possibility of an optimized version of Minecraft tailored explicitly for the Xbox Series X/S hardware might have one of the exciting features that could be included in this optimized version: ray tracing.

What’s ray tracing?

Ray tracing is a cutting-edge graphics technology that enables highly realistic lighting, reflections, and shadows in video games.

There was a notable occurrence last year when developer Mojang accidentally included prototype code for ray tracing support in a preview build of Minecraft available to Xbox Insiders.

Minecraft with raytracing on Xbox? The latest Minecraft Preview is optimized for Xbox Series S / X and has early raytracing support ???? pic.twitter.com/cqH0cuGbtS

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) March 28, 2022

It’s safe to say that all those speculations could finally be coming true.