Following NVIDIA's reveal of DLSS 5 at GTC 2026 and Digital Foundry's coverage of the new technology, one of the early adopters, Bethesda Game Studios (which plans to add it to Starfield and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered), has commented directly on Digital Foundry's X post.
The development team effectively addressed most of the criticism levied against DLSS 5 so far, clarifying that the demo is a "very early look", that the Bethesda artists will further adjust how it affects the game (since the technology is completely under their control) ahead of its public release, and critically, that it remains optional for players.
Appreciate your excitement and analysis of the new DLSS 5 lighting here. 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.
Some people were worried it would be mandatory, but that's absolutely not the case here. Just like all DLSS technologies, it will be available as a toggle in a game's settings.
That said, Bethesda is one of the big proponents of the new lighting-focused DLSS. Digital Foundry shared that Todd Howard himself said that's how he always wanted his games to look, but could never quite pull it off due to technical constraints. Indeed, his prepared statement shared alongside the announcement certainly confirms that report:
Bethesda has such a rich history pushing graphics with NVIDIA, going all the way back to Morrowind, with that incredible water. When NVIDIA showed us DLSS 5 and we got it running in Starfield, it was amazing how it brought it to life. We've played it. We can't wait for all of you to do so as well.
Two voices, entirely unaffiliated with DLSS 5 or NVIDIA, have also spoken in favor of the technology: game developer Jean Pierre Kellams and tech journalist Ryan Shrout, both veterans of their respective fields. You can read what they had to say about it in this article.
In other Bethesda news, the studio just shared that Starfield is coming to PlayStation 5 on April 7 alongside a free update called Free Lanes and a story DLC titled Terran Armada. Learn everything about it and read a developer interview with Tim Lamb in this article.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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