"It's Re-Rendering the Game!" – It Turns Out Game Artists Don't Love DLSS 5, Despite Nvidia's Claims

Nvidia revealed DLSS 5 earlier this week, working neural rendering into its AI technology suite for graphics cards. The company claimed that game developers were on board, despite some of the drastic changes it seems to make to the game's aesthetic – especially Resident Evil 5. Both Assassins Creed Shadows and Resident Evil Requiem were used to show off the new technology, but it seems like the art teams for Ubisoft and Capcom, respectively, didn't know about it until the trailer debuted, with a developer from the former telling Insider Gaming, "we found out at the same time as the public." Capcom's art team was particularly shocked and worried by Resident Evil's trailer, given the company's anti-AI stance with previous Resident Evil games. The Capcom art team definitely wasn't alone in its reaction to the technology. Animator Mike York, who has worked on wide variety of games, including Death Stranding 2, streamed a reaction to Digital Foundry's preview of DLSS 5. In it, he paused at several moments to point out some of the more radical changes that the neural rendering tech made to the games. For instance, York points out that with DLSS 5 enabled, Grace Ashcroft's eyes point in two different directions, along with extra details, like wrinkles in her lips, and an ear with a completely different shape. But more than that, York contends that rather than just fixing the lighting and some "materials" like Nvidia has claimed: "The geometry hasn't changed in the computer," York said. "So you're playing the game and the geometry isn't being changed, he's right, but he has to be careful on how he phrases it. The geometry isn't being changed, but what's happening is that it's getting painted over, sort of. Every single frame is being painted over, it's actually not showing the real geometry anymore." It appears, then, that the new DLSS 5 algorithm is using generative AI to generate entirely new images that are anchored to the original frames. That would account for the strange aesthetic differences and changes in details in background scenery. Nvidia does claim that developers maintain control over the intensity of the model. When I asked Nvidia for more information on these controls, it told me: "The operation of DLSS 5 honors the artistic intent. In addition, by providing developers with detailed controls such as intensity and color grading. Artists can use these controls to adjust global contrast, saturation, and gamma, and determine where and how enhancements are applied to maintain the game’s unique aesthetic. Developers can also mask specific objects or areas to be excluded from enhancement" From Nvidia's comment, it seems like developers and artists will be able to stake their claim, as it were, in certain assets to keep them from being altered by the algorithm. However, until we see these controls in action, it's not clear how much control is actually there. DLSS 5 is still a long way off from release, but many people are already looking at it as an unwelcome change to the art of video games. The backlash was so strong, in fact, that it prompted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to come on stage at GTC 2026 and claim that people were "wrong" about their distaste for the technology. Either way, DLSS 5 will likely change a lot before it makes its way to graphics cards this fall, so maybe Team Green will rein in some of its excesses. We won't know for a few months, though. Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra

Mar 20, 2026 - 05:50

"It's Re-Rendering the Game!" – It Turns Out Game Artists Don't Love DLSS 5, Despite Nvidia's Claims

Nvidia revealed DLSS 5 earlier this week, working neural rendering into its AI technology suite for graphics cards. The company claimed that game developers were on board, despite some of the drastic changes it seems to make to the game's aesthetic – especially Resident Evil 5.

Both Assassins Creed Shadows and Resident Evil Requiem were used to show off the new technology, but it seems like the art teams for Ubisoft and Capcom, respectively, didn't know about it until the trailer debuted, with a developer from the former telling Insider Gaming, "we found out at the same time as the public." Capcom's art team was particularly shocked and worried by Resident Evil's trailer, given the company's anti-AI stance with previous Resident Evil games.

The Capcom art team definitely wasn't alone in its reaction to the technology. Animator Mike York, who has worked on wide variety of games, including Death Stranding 2, streamed a reaction to Digital Foundry's preview of DLSS 5. In it, he paused at several moments to point out some of the more radical changes that the neural rendering tech made to the games.

For instance, York points out that with DLSS 5 enabled, Grace Ashcroft's eyes point in two different directions, along with extra details, like wrinkles in her lips, and an ear with a completely different shape. But more than that, York contends that rather than just fixing the lighting and some "materials" like Nvidia has claimed:

"The geometry hasn't changed in the computer," York said. "So you're playing the game and the geometry isn't being changed, he's right, but he has to be careful on how he phrases it. The geometry isn't being changed, but what's happening is that it's getting painted over, sort of. Every single frame is being painted over, it's actually not showing the real geometry anymore."

It appears, then, that the new DLSS 5 algorithm is using generative AI to generate entirely new images that are anchored to the original frames. That would account for the strange aesthetic differences and changes in details in background scenery.

Nvidia does claim that developers maintain control over the intensity of the model. When I asked Nvidia for more information on these controls, it told me:

"The operation of DLSS 5 honors the artistic intent. In addition, by providing developers with detailed controls such as intensity and color grading. Artists can use these controls to adjust global contrast, saturation, and gamma, and determine where and how enhancements are applied to maintain the game’s unique aesthetic. Developers can also mask specific objects or areas to be excluded from enhancement"

From Nvidia's comment, it seems like developers and artists will be able to stake their claim, as it were, in certain assets to keep them from being altered by the algorithm. However, until we see these controls in action, it's not clear how much control is actually there.

DLSS 5 is still a long way off from release, but many people are already looking at it as an unwelcome change to the art of video games. The backlash was so strong, in fact, that it prompted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to come on stage at GTC 2026 and claim that people were "wrong" about their distaste for the technology.

Either way, DLSS 5 will likely change a lot before it makes its way to graphics cards this fall, so maybe Team Green will rein in some of its excesses. We won't know for a few months, though.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra

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