[UPDATE] Two voices have pushed back against the DLSS 5 "AI filter" backlash: veteran game developer JP Kellams and tech journalist Ryan Shrout. Read everything they had to say about it in our dedicated story.
[ORIGINAL STORY] NVIDIA dropped a massive bomb at GTC 2026: the announcement of DLSS 5, which left almost everyone surprised, except for the folks at Digital Foundry, who were already able to check out this new technology.
Richard Leadbetter and Oliver Mackenzie discussed it in a first-look hands-on preview and, by and large, waxed praise upon it. I've selected some of the strongest quotes from their DLSS 5 impressions video:
Oliver Mackenzie:
- This is probably the most impressive, by quite a lot, game demo I've seen in my time at Digital Foundry.
- It's almost like we've integrated a grab bag of graphical techniques here in one fell swoop.
- All of a sudden, you've got this game (Starfield) that otherwise looks very flat, otherwise has a kind of last-generation appearance in some respects, and all of a sudden, it kind of looks like a path-traced game.
- You could mistake this for an image of a real-life forest. (on Assassin's Creed Shadows)
- We've never seen elves look this realistic. It's crazy. (on Oblivion Remastered)
- It's just an absolutely incredible accomplishment.
Richard Leadbetter:
- It's one of the most surprising, potentially disruptive, transformative, next-generation technologies we've seen.
- When you flick between the two, which one would you rather play? It's a bit of a no-brainer (on Resident Evil Requiem).
- It's almost getting beyond computer graphics and into neural rendering.
- The impact of this technology... I don't think I've seen a demo quite as astonishing as this for quite some time.
Yet even their highly positive video is already filled with commenters suggesting that DLSS 5 is "just an AI filter" and that it is "disrupting the original art style". Now, as Richard points out in the video, the only major aesthetic difference is in one shot of Grace Ashcroft from Resident Evil Requiem, where her face looks, admittedly, quite different from the original game. In all other cases shown so far, from Starfield to EA Sports FC and even another shot of Grace from CAPCOM's game (as seen in the comparison picture below), the art style appears to be largely preserved, except that it's received a massive, generational boost in detail.
Indeed, Digital Foundry confirms that DLSS 5 retains the game's original geometry in its entirety and simply passes it through its fine-tuned AI model. That said, with several months still left before the technology's planned Fall 2026 debut, there's room for improvement, as NVIDIA itself admitted, calling this demo a "snapshot of current development for the model" with plenty of tuning left to do.
Furthermore, DLSS 5 is directly integrated into the NVIDIA Streamline SDK, allowing developers to use the detailed controls for intensity, colour grading, and masking to determine where and how enhancements are applied, helping them to maintain each game's unique aesthetic. Indeed, many developers are already on board with it, including the following who have already provided official statements:
Todd Howard, studio head and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios: 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.
Jun Takeuchi, executive producer and executive corporate officer at CAPCOM: At CAPCOM, we strive to create experiences that feel cinematic, compelling and deeply believable — where every shadow, texture and ray of light is crafted with intention to enhance atmosphere and emotional impact. DLSS 5 represents another important step in pushing visual fidelity forward, helping players become even more immersed in the world of Resident Evil.”
Charlie Guillemot, co-CEO of Vantage Studios: Immersion is about making the world feel real. DLSS 5 is a real step towards that goal. The way it 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.
We'll definitely cover a lot more about the new DLSS as we get closer to its launch. Stay tuned!
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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