The Elder Scrolls 6 Fans Torn Over New Official Graphics Showcase

Last night saw NVIDIA reveal its latest technological advancements, which would include using “an AI-powered breakthrough in visual fidelity” to help improve photorealistic graphics in some of our favorite games. Expected to launch this fall, this update will completely revolutionize the gaming sphere, but with the breakthrough including the use of generative AI to give our characters freakily realistic appearances, it seems as though not everybody is on board.

Now with the news that Bethesda is on board with NVIDIA’s upcoming update, titles such as the previously released Starfield and The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Remastered, as well as the upcoming The Elder Scrolls VI, will most likely welcome the arrival of DLSS 5.

Since NVIDIA’s announcement overnight, it has already been revealed that titles such as Resident Evil Requiem and Hogwarts Legacy will be receiving the DLSS 5 update, with an official video showing us comparison images of the technology in play. As an attempt to “bridge the cinematic gap”, many studios will be teaming up with NVIDIA to use this technology, including Bethesda, CAPCOM, Hotta Studio, NetEase, NCSOFT, S-GAME, Tencent, Ubisoft and Warner Bros. Games.

As such, the upcoming The Elder Scrolls VI is the most likely to take advantage of DLSS 5, especially considering that it has plenty of time still left in development to utilize it. Not only that, but Bethesda head, Todd Howard, shared his thoughts on the potential collaboration, saying, “Bethesda has such a rich history of pushing graphics with NVIDIA, going all the way back to Morrowind, with that incredible water. When NVIDIA showed us DLSS 5, and we got it running in Starfield, it was amazing how it brought it to life. We’ve played it. We can’t wait for all of you to do so as well.” Of course, this does not confirm if The Elder Scrolls VI will use DLSS 5, but with Howard on board, it seems pretty likely.

However, this update is not a cut and dry case as the inclusion of AI-based technology to achieve unrealistic and photorealistic results has not been received well by fans of the franchises involved. As such, a discussion over on r/TESVI took place overnight, with fans sharing their thoughts on the potential inclusion of DLSS in The Elder Scrolls VI.

“Reading official documents, it seems developers will have the ability to adjust the intensity to preserve artistic direction,” one user shared, filling us with at least some hope. “Probably these examples are cranked to maximum just to showcase the dramatic effect of the increased fidelity. However, all the art direction and the initial character models are lost. Hopefully, the devs will implement it smartly so that we just benefit from the increased level of detail.”

However, other fans were happy to share their outright disregard for this AI technology. “But can we just turn that s**t off in the options? I will keep playing the original one,” one user wrote. “I hate AI so f**king much,” another added. “The DLSS 5 faces look like absolute hot garbage.”

With others referring to this new NVIDIA technology as “AI slop”, I can’t help but agree and hope that this is an option that can be disregarded by the majority of the gaming industry in the hopes that it continues to support its real, hardworking, and dedicated artists and developers.