Artificial intelligence is bridging the gap between game visuals and state-of-the-art CGI in films. It is evolving traditional graphics programming and giving developers new ways to realize their creative visions.
At CES 2025, NVIDIA introduced RTX Neural Shaders. They enable developers to train and deploy tiny neural networks directly within shaders to better compress large texture files and render complex materials in real time. Coinciding with Unreal Fest Orlando 2025 this week, NVIDIA is making neural shaders even faster.
Accelerate neural shaders: access RTX Tensor Cores via DirectX
Since their availability earlier this year, RTX Neural Shaders generally have relied on general-purpose shader CUDA cores for inference. That leads to slower, less complex, and less capable AI-generated graphics.
The now-available Microsoft DirectX 12 Agility SDK preview adds support for a feature called Cooperative Vectors. The feature grants game developers direct access to RTX Tensor Cores from within DirectX shaders, accelerating any graphics workload that leverages AI.
RTX Tensor Cores are specialized hardware units on NVIDIA RTX GPUs that are designed specifically to accelerate the matrix-vector and matrix-matrix operations fundamental to AI training and inference. By leveraging them directly via DirectX, developers can achieve massive performance gains for in-game AI workloads, including those powered by RTX Neural Shaders.
To help developers hit the ground running, NVIDIA has updated the RTX Neural Shaders SDK with a DirectX path for Cooperative Vectors, which provides the necessary tools to integrate and run compact neural networks directly in shaders with hardware acceleration.
Get Started: Check out the Microsoft technical blog for details on the Agility SDK preview, and start experimenting with RTX Tensor Core acceleration in your DirectX applications today.
RTX Kit evolves: increasing path-tracing performance
NVIDIA is updating its cutting-edge neural-rendering collection, NVIDIA RTX Kit, to v2025.3 to make path tracing more efficient.
Path tracing produces stunningly realistic lighting but is very computationally intensive. NVIDIA has improved that by bringing standardized DirectX Raytracing support to NVIDIA Opacity Micromaps (OMM) and Shader Execution Reordering (SER).
OMM efficiently maps intricate geometries onto triangles, delivering up to 2.3x performance improvement. SER reorders threads on the GPU, reducing the divergence effects that occur in ray tracing workloads and improving rendering performance by up to 2x. Access our latest preview driver with OMM and SER support today.
RTX Kit v2025.3 also includes:
- Performance optimizations for RTX Mega Geometry
- Expanded texture support for RTX Texture Streaming
- Dynamic Shader Compilation and performance improvements for RTX Path Tracing
Get Started: Download RTX Kit to explore the full set of enhancements.
NVIDIA DLSS 4: multi-frame generation & enhancements for all DLSS technologies
NVIDIA DLSS is a suite of neural rendering technologies powered by GeForce RTX Tensor Cores that boosts frame rates while delivering crisp, high-quality images that rival native resolution. The Unreal Engine 5 plugins gives you access to new DLSS Multi Frame Generation, Ray Reconstruction and Super Resolution enhanced by a new transformer AI model.
NVIDIA Audio2Face-3D: enhanced with new architecture
Audio2Face-3D 3.0 features a new diffusion-based AI model that converts streaming audio to blendshapes for improved lip-syncing and stronger emotion for facial animations. It can be used in both run-time scenarios and offline authoring.
Use our Audio2Face-3D plugin for Unreal Engine 5 alongside a configuration sample to enhance your Metahuman. Audio2Face-3D 3.0 is now available with on-device Unreal Engine 5 support with further quality improvements coming soon.
See it live at Unreal Fest Orlando 2025
These updates represent significant strides in making powerful AI tools more accessible for game developers. By unlocking Tensor Core acceleration in DirectX and enhancing RTX Kit, NVIDIA is excited to see the next generation of AI-driven gaming experiences you’ll create.
If you’re attending Unreal Fest Orlando 2025, be sure to visit the NVIDIA partner booths of Lenovo and HP. You’ll be able to see demos of cutting-edge path tracing and digital human technologies in action.
Go hands-on across the show floor
Explore how you can use NVIDIA-powered tools to accelerate your workflows, enhance realism, and build smarter digital experiences, with NVIDIA’s partners throughout Unreal Fest.
HP
Swing by to check out Zorah, a neural rendering showcase built on the RTX Branch of Unreal Engine 5. Then join HP’s session—Unlocking Creative Storytelling Through Cutting-Edge Technology-Immersive Enterprise Laboratories (IEL)—for a deeper dive into how AI is transforming creative workflows.
Lenovo
See digital humans running live on-device with Project R2X, powered by NVIDIA ACE. Don’t miss the NVIDIA-led session—How to Build AI-Powered Digital Humans in Unreal Engine 5—for hands-on insight into creating agentic avatars with real-time tools.
Puget Systems
Get a firsthand look at the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition GPU with 96 GB of GPU memory in a workstation built for serious creators. Catch Sir Wade Neistadt in action as he shows how these rigs handle complex animation and rendering with ease.
WWT
Talk to “Ellie,” a next-gen MetaHuman brought to life with NVIDIA. This AI-powered digital human reacts in real time with natural conversation and expressive emotion.
Getting started resources for Unreal Engine developersFor more technical resources and SDKs, head over to NVIDIA’s game developer resources page for Unreal Engine developers.
