Nvidia saw a busy few days during its global GTC event hosted in San Jose.
Alongside the launch of NemoClaw, Nvidia unveiled DLSS 5 which the company has hailed as its “most significant breakthrough in computer graphics” since real-time ray tracing. Although it might sound interesting, DLSS 5 has been met with significant backlash and criticism.
We explain everything you need to know about Nvidia DLSS 5, including what it really is and how it will affect video games. We’ll also explain why there’s been such backlash and why gamers and developers alike are not happy with DLSS 5.
What is Nvidia DLSS 5?
Before we dive into the specifics of DLSS 5, we’ll start by reminding you what DLSS actually is. Released back in 2018, DLSS (short for Deep Learning Super Sampling) is an AI-powered technology that upscales resolutions and generates new frames in video games to boost its overall performance. According to Nvidia, it has been integrated into over 750 games and has become the “gold standard for the industry”.
DLSS has seen various improvements and upgrades over the years, with DLSS 5 being the latest update.
Nvidia explains that DLSS 5 uses an AI model that is trained end-to-end to understand aspects of complex scenes, including characters, hair and fabric alongside environmental lighting conditions, all by analysing a single frame. DLSS 5 will then generate visually precise images while retaining the structure and semantics of the original scene – all in real time at up to 4K resolution, so you shouldn’t notice any interruptions during gameplay.
But what does this mean for game developers? Nvidia says that DLSS 5 provides developers with “detailed controls” so they can determine where and how enhancements are applied to maintain each game’s aesthetic. At the time of writing, DLSS 5 will be supported by the likes of Bethesda, Ubisoft, Warner Bros Games and more.
When is DLSS 5 coming out?
At the time of writing, Nvidia has only stated that DLSS 5 will arrive “this fall” and is yet to provide a concrete release date.
We do know a handful of titles that will support DLSS 5, including 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 and more.
Nvidia also provided several examples of DLSS 5 in the likes of Resident Evil Requiem, EA SPORTS FC, Starfield and Hogwarts Legacy throughout the GTC.
What is the DLSS 5 controversy?
You’ll likely have seen some of the online backlash surrounding Nvidia’s DLSS 5 announcement, with disgruntled gamers taking to the likes of X and Reddit to declare the technology as nothing more than “AI slop”. However, there is more to their frustrations than that.
Game developers and artists have voiced concerns that DLSS 5 not only seems to make games look worse, but that they’ll lose artistic control over the game’s design. In addition, gamers have explained that they prefer a more nuanced game design, rather than one that feels smooth and less thought through.
Many also took to the comments section on Nvidia’s YouTube announcement to voice their unhappiness at DLSS 5. Nvidia has attempted to put minds at ease, which can be seen through the pinned comment on the video. In this comment, Nvidia explains that “game developers have full, detailed artistic control over DLSS 5’s effects to ensure they maintain their game’s unique aesthetic.”
The comment continues by explaining DLSS 5 is “not a filter” and instead “inputs the game’s color and motion vectors for each frame into the model, anchoring the output in the source 3D content.”
Not only that, but in a recent interview with Tom’s Hardware, Jensen Huang stated that those voicing anger are simply “completely wrong”. Huang concludes that DLSS 5 is “very different than generative AI; it’s content-control generative AI” and that developers will still retain control of the game and can “fine-tune the generative AI” to make it match the style of the game.
In fact, some video game powerhouses have voiced their praise for DLSS 5. For example, Todd Howard, Studio Head and Executive Producer at Bethesda Game Studios stated in Nvidia’s press release that “with DLSS 5, the artistic style and detail shine through without being held back by the traditional limits of real-time rendering.”
In addition, Charlie Guillemot, co-CEO of Vantage Studios said the way DLSS 5 “renders lighting, materials and characters changes what we can promise to players. On Assassin’s Creed Shadows, it’s letting us build the kind of worlds we’ve always wanted to.”
