Nvidia Teases DLSS 5 and Gamers Aren’t Impressed

Nvidia opened its GTC conference with a keynote by CEO Jensen Huang, revealing the company’s latest tech. Among the raft of the company’s AI developments, gamers were treated to the imminent version of its AI-powered upscaling and optimization technology, DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), touted as the “biggest breakthrough in computer graphics”. 

Nvidia published a video illustrating how DLSS 5 can enhance graphics in Resident Evil Requiem, Starfield and other games, showing before-and-after takes. But gamers weren’t thrilled. In fact, the response to DLSS 5 resembles more of a collective backlash, replete with memes, ridicule and outrage. 

Gamers were quick to point out that DLSS 5 transformed the original graphics into something vastly different. Some called the visuals “AI slop” because they look like “yassified” AI-generated filters. 

Many worry that DLSS 5 could deviate from a creator’s specific artistic vision. Critics also fear that if this technology becomes the industry standard, video game graphics might start to look the same, losing their unique visual identity. 

“Everything about this is a betrayal of these game’s artistry,” said YouTuber The Sphere Hunter in a post on X Monday. “Painting over handcrafted, intentional 3D art with shiny, wrinkly, sunken-in, porous, puckered, fraudulent, filtered nonsense is deeply disrespectful. If you want this, just watch gen-AI videos all day.”

Countless memes mocking the tech’s exaggerated features flooded the internet. Others on social media parodied the effects DLSS 5 could produce in other games. 

In a Q&A on Tuesday, Huang addressed the backlash from gamers, calling them “completely wrong.” Huang underlined that DLSS 5 “enhances and adds generative capability, but it doesn’t change the artistic control” and that “it’s in the direct control of the game developer.”

The team at Digital Foundry, which specializes in game technology and hardware reviews, called it “disruptive and transformative” but was generally positive about it, though they saw some hiccups. 

“[The images] looked a little bit uncanny, I would say, but definitely the overall portrayal of those characters is much more sophisticated,” said Oliver Mackenzie, video producer and writer for Digital Foundry.

Bethesda’s official X account replied to comments from members of Digital Foundry about Starfield and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, both published by Bethesda.

“This is a very early look, and our art teams will be further adjusting the lighting and final effect to look the way we think works best for each game. This will all be under our artists’ control, and totally optional for players,” the publisher said. 

DLSS 5 is set to be released sometime in the fall. 

What is DLSS?

Nvidia first released its DLSS tech back in 2018 with its RTX 2080 card: The RTX architecture introduced the Tensor cores, which are essential for accelerating the calculations used by the DLSS AI. The deep learning technology was designed to upscale images and video from low resolution in real time to achieve higher frame rates. 

Gamers weren’t impressed at first, but later versions of the technology did perform better in games that supported it. DLSS 4, released last year and tweaked to 4.5 as of January, made significant improvements to detail rendering, reducing motion artifacts, boosting frame rates, and generating more realistic lighting via path tracing (which incorporates interactions with ray-traced lighting). 

What does DLSS 5 do?

DLSS 5 works a bit differently than previous versions of the technology. According to Nvidia, DLSS 5 shifts from processing simple pixels to understanding 3D elements. By deconstructing characters into specific components — such as skin, hair and clothing — the AI can render them more consistently. This results in faster performance and much more realistic details, especially for textures and lighting. 

Game developers control how DLSS 5 enhances images and to what degree, ensuring it matches the game’s aesthetic. The demo video showcased some positive enhancements, but others looked like sweeping changes to the characters and the environment. 

Which games will support DLSS 5 at launch?

On Monday, Nvidia released a list of games slated to support DLSS 5:

• AION 2 
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows
• Black State 
• Cinder City
• Delta Force 
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Justice
• Naraka: Bladepoint 
• NTE: Neverness to Everness
• Phantom Blade Zero
• Resident Evil Requiem
• Sea of Remnants
• Starfield
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
• Where Winds Meet

What cards will support DLSS 5?

Nvidia has yet to provide a list of GPUs that will support the new technology. In an FAQ, the company says it will release a list of supported cards closer to its release.