{"id":548220,"date":"2026-03-18T11:23:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/548220\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T11:23:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:23:15","slug":"gamers-react-with-overwhelming-disgust-to-dlss-5s-generative-ai-glow-ups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/548220\/","title":{"rendered":"Gamers react with overwhelming disgust to DLSS 5’s generative AI glow-ups"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Many of the reactions have focused on how DLSS 5 turns in-game faces into overly detailed, uncanny valley versions of the original models. Reactions have compared the effect to air-brushed pornography<\/a>, \u201cyassified, looks-maxed freaks,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0or those uncanny, unavoidable Evony ads<\/a>. Others have noted how DLSS 5 seems to mangle the intended art direction<\/a> by dampening shadows<\/a> in favor of a homogenized look<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some game developers have leapt on the \u201cartistic intent\u201d angle, too. Thomas Was Alone developer Mike Bithell added<\/a> that the technology seems designed \u201cfor when you absolutely, positively, don\u2019t want any art direction in your gaming experience.\u201d And Gunfire Games Senior Concept Artist Jeff Talbot said<\/a> that \u201cin every shot the art direction was taken away for the senseless addition of \u2018details.\u2019 Each DLSS 5 shot looked worse and had less character than the original. This is just a garbage AI Filter.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Blood Interactive founder and CEO Dave Oshry added<\/a> that DLSS 5\u2019s \u201cAI dogshit is actually depressing\u201d and lamented that future generations \u201cwon\u2019t even know this looks \u2018bad\u2019 or \u2018wrong\u2019 because to them it\u2019ll be normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Damage control<\/p>\n

By way of damage control, Nvidia took to the comments (which are filled with thousands of negative takes) on its YouTube reveal trailer<\/a>\u00a0to stress that DLSS 5 \u201cis not a filter\u201d and that \u201cgame developers have full, detailed artistic control over DLSS 5\u2019s effects to ensure they maintain their game\u2019s unique aesthetic.\u201d That includes the ability to tweak intensity and color grading or turn the masking off entirely in \u201cplaces where the effect shouldn\u2019t be applied.\u201d<\/p>\n

DLSS 5 OFF \/\/ DLSS 5 ON<\/p>\n

[image or embed]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tuba Zef (@tubazef.com<\/a>) March 16, 2026 at 3:59 PM<\/a><\/p>\n

Bethesda, one of the many major publishers Nvidia named as an early DLSS 5 partner, piped in on social media<\/a> to say that these videos are \u201ca 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\u2019 control, and totally optional for players.\u201d<\/p>\n

From a public image perspective, though, the damage may already be done. DLSS 5 has quickly<\/a> become<\/a> a meme format<\/a> in its own right<\/a>, with Internet commenters using \u201cDLSS 5 On\u201d as visual shorthand<\/a> for \u201coverly cleaned up\u201d or \u201cmangled beyond recognition.\u201d We\u2019re not sure how you come back from that kind of instant infamy, but Nvidia will have until the fall to find out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many of the reactions have focused on how DLSS 5 turns in-game faces into overly detailed, uncanny valley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-548220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}