- Nvidia unveiled DLSS 5 at Gamescom 2026, showing it off in NBA 2K27
- DLSS 5 will launch alongside NBA 2K27, and be available from September 3, 2026
- DLSS 5 is exclusive to RTX 5000 GPUs, but Nvidia is working to eventually make it available on older GeForce cards
It's no secret that Nvidia's reveal of DLSS 5 earlier this year led to instant controversy and a backlash from gamers, not to mention game developers. The technology was branded as generative 'AI slop', effectively changing the look and style of character models, notably Leon S. Kennedy and Grace Ashcroft in Resident Evil Requiem.
Since then, Nvidia has worked on developing its neural rendering tech, and DLSS 5 is now ready for launch — and it's arguably being used in the game that's most appropriate for it.
DLSS 5 will debut on September 3, 2026, and will be first available in NBA 2K27 on September 4. The new tech will be exclusive to RTX 5000 GPUs, but Nvidia made it clear that it will explore ways to bring DLSS 5 to older generations of GeForce graphics cards eventually.
At Nvidia's Gamescom 2026 booth, I was treated to a brief hands-on sample of DLSS 5 running in NBA 2K27, on multiple systems including an RTX 5060 gaming laptop and also on GeForce Now.
Much to my surprise, DLSS 5 looks absolutely amazing with NBA 2K27's environments and character models, providing a level of realism that can only be described as the next leap in visuals for gaming.
The level of detail in character faces in terms of lighting and shadows is truly next-level, and it's all possible thanks to AI-enhanced lighting on the rendered frame, which Nvidia states is trained to 'preserve artistic intent'.
When DLSS 5 was first revealed in March, I was bewildered by what Nvidia was attempting, which appeared to be generative AI used to make everything in-game more lifelike. If it wasn't clear already, I have strong feelings against generative AI in gaming, but my initial fears were misplaced, as this isn't what DLSS 5 is about.
DLSS 5 uses three different models, with each including options for structure intensity, tone intensity, and masking. Structure and tone are both responsible for aspects such as ambient occlusion, contact shadows, reflections, and broader lighting.
Masking allows manual or automatic control of where each effect is applied, and Nvidia has designed DLSS 5 for developers to have full control over the final frame that's rendered.
The DLSS 5 model running in NBA 2K27 was fine-tuned directly by the game's developer, not Nvidia, and the result is way different from the first glimpse of DLSS 5 in March. What was illuminating here is that the team at Nvidia stressed that the initial reveal had the sliders for each of those models at maximum levels.
As I saw with NBA 2K27, when put in the hands of developers, it's easier to see just how great DLSS 5 is when used appropriately. Developers will be able to adjust the intensity for each scene for both the environment (foliage and other objects) as well as character models.
Performance is a different ball game too
DLSS 5 isn't exactly easy to run, which isn't a huge surprise considering how realistic the results are. However, Nvidia has made significant progress in six months: DLSS 5 required two RTX 5090 GPUs to function at the initial reveal, and now works with any RTX 5000 series GPU.
The RTX 5060 gaming laptop running NBA 2K27 displayed very smooth performance, only using Frame Generation x2 with DLSS 5 enabled. This was a big surprise to say the least, and suggests that it may not take as long as expected to introduce this new tech to RTX 4000 series GPUs (and older).
My only concern at this stage isn't related to Nvidia at all, in fact. DLSS 5 on its own now looks very useful for producing lifelike visuals, and seems set to be the future for impressively detailed graphics.
Visual Concepts, the developer behind NBA 2K27, has done enough here to quell my fears that DLSS 5 would somehow mess with game art and design direction in a negative way.
However, we're yet to see how other developers will implement the tool in their games. I'm somewhat worried that many could fall into the trap of using DLSS 5 as a shortcut for great game visuals, rather than an added bonus on top of already well-crafted graphics.
I shared similar concerns regarding Nvidia's Multi Frame Generation, and how developers may rely on this very useful tool as a band-aid for poor game optimization.
Fortunately, though, if NBA 2K27 is anything to go by in terms of what to expect from the likes of Capcom, Bethesda, and Ubisoft, then I'm excited to see DLSS 5 implemented in upcoming games. After all, it is an optional game setting, so if you don't like it, you don't have to use the tech.
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