Nvidia’s DLSS 5 reveal has pulled in some very sturdy opinions. Since its unveiling, each Nvidia and Bethesda have clarified that builders may have creative freedom, however many builders have labelled it “slop” and “disrespectful to the intentional art direction of devs“. One significantly sturdy voice in favour of the tech is the lead producer of Epic Video games, Jean Pierre Kellams.
As shared over on X, Kellams says, “All you guys roasting DLSS 5 prefer it doesn’t look higher/is detracting from artwork course are completely insane.”
“The lighting and shading enhancements are bonkers. If that was proven as a next-gen {hardware} reveal and never “AI” you guys could be going nuts just like the Watch Canines demo.”
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All you guys roasting DLSS 5 prefer it doesn’t look higher/is detracting from artwork course are completely insane. The lighting and shading enhancements are bonkers. If that was proven as a next-gen {hardware} reveal and never “AI” you guys could be going nuts just like the Watch Canines…March 17, 2026
If you do not know Kellams for his work on the likes of Fortnite, you might know him for his historical past with Platinum Video games, engaged on the English adaptation of Bayonetta 2, The Fantastic 101, Satan Might Cry, and extra.
Ex-Intel alum and former proprietor of PC Perspective, Ryan Shrout, stated that Kellam’s publish “looks like the correct reply to me”, and so they went hands-on with the tech yesterday. They argue it is “not a face filter” and “What I noticed within the demos was a complete enchancment throughout your complete scene. And the second that basically drove this house wasn’t a face. It was a espresso maker.”
Shrout says, “One of many issues I got here away most inspired by is the developer management story. That is important. If DLSS 5 had been a black field that slapped a one-size-fits-all enhancement over each recreation, the creative intent considerations could be fully legitimate. However that is not what that is.”
Apparently, when a remark inevitably brings up the yassified Grace Ashcroft Nvidia confirmed off, Kellams argues, “Her pores and skin shader has significantly better subsurface scattering (she does not have the Japanese recreation character excellent pores and skin). Her lips even have creases now. Her ear stud is now catching mild correctly.”
Kellams finalizes his level, saying, “If I used to be a technical artist, I might be begging for this proper now. It is primarily making tremendous excessive decision bodily correct lighting trivially low-cost. If that is the demo, I can not wait till tech artists begin actually digging in.”
A part of his argument is that DLSS 5 might be resource-efficient and that “the technical commerce offs that you must make for efficiency to get that degree of lighting is untenable.”
Notably, that is one thing Nvidia noted with its RTX 50 collection launch. In a demo, exhibiting off neural supplies, it managed to carry down reminiscence utilization on material by a 3rd, which actually does bolster this opinion. It claims “Neural Texture Compression leverages neural networks accessed via neural shaders to compress and decompress materials textures extra effectively than conventional strategies.”
I disagree… Take a look at Grace’s face. Her pores and skin shader has significantly better subsurface scattering (she does not have the Japanese recreation character excellent pores and skin). Her lips even have creases now. Her ear stud is now catching mild correctly. The sunshine supply from the correct aspect of the…March 17, 2026
Notably, when discussing creative intent, Kellams argues that you just can’t guess at intent until a director comes out and states as such, and that among the tone or ambiance from video games are purely tradeoffs made for sure engines or fashions. He claims Nvidia’s Resident Evil Requiem demo “has WAY WAY WAY higher lighting” and a extra reasonable world.
“The gloominess you turned accustomed to is definitely a function of lighting tradeoffs that DLSS 5 is ‘fixing'”, Kellams states.
Although the demo Shrout and the likes of digital Foundry obtained entry to was seen operating via two RTX 5090s, it is price noting that it is going to be at max 4K settings for demonstration functions, and Nvidia has stated the tech shall be usable on a single GPU when it launches later this 12 months. We’ll must get hands-on to search out out the efficiency hit you’ll get in return for DLSS 5.
However vast adoption of DLSS 5 will largely be about how customers react to it, and Kellams thinks that ship has already sailed. “I get that some very vocal folks don’t like AI. However guess what. Know-how doesn’t care in the event you prefer it. It’s a instrument. AI isn’t coming. It’s right here. Simply this morning my oncologist was telling me all of the methods it’s serving to most cancers therapy and analysis.”
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