Nvidia DLSS 5 faces dev backlash as New Blood calls it "gen AI bullshit"
Summary
Nvidia's DLSS 5, a generative AI-based neural renderer, is drawing sharp criticism from developers and players following its GTC demo.
New Blood Interactive's CEO Dave Oshry and Dusk developer David Szymanski publicly condemned the tech on visual and ethical grounds.
The backlash mirrors past industry resistance to NFTs and crypto games, with calls for developer and consumer boycotts.
"They know if they called it something like 'Nvidia Generative Upscaling' the public backlash would be immediate and intense."
01
The branding controversy - hiding gen AI behind a trusted name
Nvidia branded its generative AI renderer under the established DLSS name, a move critics call deliberately misleading.
DLSS stands for Deep Learning Super Sampling - a technology with no inherent connection to generative AI.
"Tell me what generative AI has to do with deep learning super sampling [...] they're hiding this generative AI bullshit behind the moniker because they think we're stupid."
Oshry argues the DLSS label was chosen specifically to soften what would otherwise be an intensely negative public reaction.
02
The visual quality problem - looks worse, not better
David Szymanski, developer of Dusk, argues DLSS 5 fails on the most basic metric: it does not look good.
"The core problem here is that DLSS 5, per Nvidia's own showcase video, looks shit."
He describes the AI-generated lighting and contrast as making scenes less realistic and more like an over-sharpened YouTube edit.
The criticism applies even when setting aside deeper concerns about artistic intent and generative AI ethics.
03
Artistic integrity at stake - what happens to game art?
Oshry raises a structural question: if AI generates the final rendered image, why invest in detailed game art at all?
The concern is that DLSS 5 effectively replaces the artist's visual output with an AI interpretation of it.
Szymanski reinforces this, noting that prior Nvidia tech like DLSS, TAA, and ray tracing already came "at an immense cost to the clarity, accessibility, and playability of games."
The worry is that DLSS 5 repeats the same pattern - years of poor implementation before any meaningful benefit reaches players.
04
Industry pushback - calls for wallets and boycotts
Oshry is calling on both developers and players to actively resist adoption of DLSS 5.
"The only thing we can do besides calling them out on it is vote with our wallets. Cripple their sales, tank their stock price. Stop collaborating with them as developers."
He draws a direct parallel to industry resistance against NFTs, crypto games, loot boxes, and battle passes.
New Blood acknowledges it has minimal stake financially - they shipped only one DLSS/RTX title (Amid Evil) and describe the experience as "a huge pain in the ass."
05
What to watch - a familiar cycle repeating
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has pushed back, calling much of the criticism "completely wrong" and rejecting comparisons to simple 2D AI filters.
If history with DLSS and ray tracing repeats, image quality may improve over time - but the transition period could be damaging for game visual standards.
Developer adoption rates and whether major studios distance themselves from DLSS 5 will be the key indicators to track going forward.
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