Capcom developers didn’t know about Nvidia DLSS 5 before reveal claims report
Developers at Capcom and Ubisoft were apparently unaware of the company’s support of Nvidia’s DLSS 5, as the AI upscaler controversy continues.
Nvidia’s new DLSS 5 technology, which uses generative AI to alter a game’s visuals, has become a new focal point in the conversation around generative AI.
After the technology was showcased earlier this week, many fans and developers have criticised it for how it alters character’s faces to the point of being almost unrecongisable and changes the lighting to make it less realistic – based on comparison shots using Resident Evil Requiem, Starfield, and others.
Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang has been bullish about the criticism, calling it ‘completely wrong’ and insisting that it ‘doesn’t change the artistic control’. However, the latest report suggest that developers at Capcom and Ubisoft had no idea about the technology until it was unveiled to the public.
As noted in the original blog post, the announcement of DLSS 5 was supported by several companies, including Bethesda, Capcom, Hotta Studio, NetEase, NCSOFT, S-Game, Tencent, Ubisoft, and Warner Bros. Games.
According to Insider Gaming, DLSS 5 was revealed to developers at Capcom and Ubisoft at the same time as everyone else. ‘We found out at the same time as the public,’ one unnamed Ubisoft developer told the outlet.
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It’s claimed developers at Capcom were particularly shocked by the studio’s involvement, as they had historically been very ‘anti-AI’ with projects like Resident Evil Requiem. Now, some fear this might represent a change in attitude among higher-ups.
In the original announcement, Capcom’s executive producer and corporate officer, Jun Takeuchi, described DLSS 5 as ‘another important step in pushing visual fidelity forward, helping players become even more immersed in the world of Resident Evil.’
Additionally, Charlie Guillemot, co-CEO of new Ubisoft subsidiary Vantage Studios, said: ‘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.’
While Nvidia clearly got support from executives, it’s not going to help their position if the actual teams within Capcom and Ubisoft – whose work DLSS 5 directly affects – were not consulted beforehand.
GameCentral has reached out to Ubisoft and Capcom for comment.
It seems as if the backlash against DLSS 5 has come as a surprise to many within the industry. After posting positive impressions about the technology earlier in the week, Digital Foundry founder Richard Leadbetter has since said in a new video that they ‘don’t think we did a good enough job on the day’, saying they should have ‘taken more time with the material’ before posting the video.
The blowback they received even led to death threats against the team, which Leadbetter described as ‘crossing the line’ and ‘totally unacceptable’.
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