> gamers typically care more about higher-FPS / higher-resolutions rather than more realistic shadows and reflections.

It's a balance though, right?

Programmable shading took off because lots of people wanted the better shading that it enabled (at the cost of lower framerates/resolution). So it seems plausible that people might again choose quality improvements through raytracing over framerates/resolution (especially as 4k 120fps becomes more achievable).