On March 17th, 2026, Nvidia, with the help of Digital Foundry and a few select AAA gaming companies like Capcom and Bethesda, showed off their new DLSS 5 AI tech at GDC 2026. Nvidia is claiming this is their most significant breakthrough in computer graphics since the debut of real-time ray tracing in 2018. DLSS has been around now for a while and it always used AI to increase your framerate, increase anti-aliasing, and super resolution. So what is so significant about this update and why is there so much buzz?

DLSS 5 is no longer just using AI to increase your framerates and make your game look smoother and have better resolution. It now uses a real-time rendering model that infuses pixels with photoreal lighting and materials. This means its changing the lighting and materials on the characters and surroundings to make them look as photorealistic as possible. Trying to bridge the the divide between rendering and reality, and achieving Hollywood-level visual effects.

There has been some heated debate on whether or not this is Generative AI placing a mask over the current model. Some of the examples shown were not convincing, with strange movements going on with eyes for one of the TES IV: Oblivion Remastered characters. Along with the general look of the over produced studio lighting and makeup filters you would see from the GenAI images that make all the characters look like GQ models.

However, Nvidia is adamant that there is no reconstruction of the character models happening, and that gamers are getting the wrong idea. In an interview with Tom’s Hardware, Jensen Huang says, “All of that is in the control — direct control — of the game developer.” He goes on to claim that, “This is very different than generative AI; it’s content-control generative AI. That’s why we call it neural rendering.”

Is that reassuring enough? The question still stands about how far does AI and photorealism need to be pushed into gaming? What is the need to make video games look and feel like movies and real life? Besides a very few examples, most games that stand the test of time for their visuals are the ones that have strong and unique art styles. The games that try for cutting edge realism usually age the quickest. Plus, do we need all our games to look like real life? What are the ramifications on the developers when corporations push more use of AI to do the heavy lifting and rendering of models? AI made games, with AI assistants helping you play the game, everything looks realistic with no soul. That’s what we don’t want from AI.

Yep, definitely all good here. Nothing wrong with those eyes.

These will be the issues the AAA industry will need to navigate as it moves into this new age of AI rendered visuals. Meanwhile, the indie devs can sit back and keep their creative license and know they are creating true art, blemishes and all. It’s funny they showed Oblivion using this tech, because some of the charm from The Elder Scrolls are those silly character models, designs, and that well-known art style. Much like the big budget movie industry losing its audience and letting the indie scene really shine, this might just be what pushes indie gaming into its golden era.

We wanted to reach out to an indie developer and get their perspective on things, and we thought who better than Andrew Gilmour, who offers an interesting perspective since he has been on both sides of the industry. Being a part of the main team of Naughty Dog back in their heyday of Jak & Daxter , and now running a two person team with Steel Mantis and shipping games like Slain, Valfaris, and the upcoming Slain 2: The Beast Within; Andrew has plenty of experience in the industry, and has some interesting thoughts and ideas on how new AI tech should actually be used.

He opens up talking about his time at a AAA studio: “I already saw this happening from my time at Naughty Dog. We will end up with just crap movies where posers pretend to be gamers as AI plays the games for them and renders it too, and they will sit back and press the ‘I win button’ at the end,” which is poignant with the recent focus on AI assistance Microsoft and Sony have been moving to as well. He continues, “it does open up the floor for real games. Kind of like cheese and beer. Sure, you get your pre-wrapped cheese slices and your manufactured beer substance. And you wonder why you feel like crap the next day.” We’ve definitely all been there. “Or, get some lovingly crafted cheese and beer made with care and feel good. There is a place for both. AAAs will become McDonald’s, and I don’t mind a Big Mac every now and then.”

I did want to dig a bit deeper on what he saw that started giving him the hint that things were moving this way, even way back then with Naughty Dog, and he explained: “more cinematics to tell a story, not letting the player make their own up. Narrowing down of skill to make it more appealing to the masses, so they too can be gamers.” I think we can all agree that has been a prevalent pattern in most AAA game studios for sure. “Naughty Dog wanted to make movies after the Jak games. All the gamers got laid off or fired and were slowly replaced by the Hollywood VFX guys, motion capture artists, and script writers.”

The change in movie level cinematics has been definitely noticeable with Naughty Dog ever since Uncharted 2, absolutely.” He continues, “when I was young and making games, gamers where 100% of the audience. Now gamers make up, at best I would say, 10-20% of the gamers. They are still there, wanting a challenge, wanting to beat a boss that has taken you two weeks so you can see the next level, but mostly gamers, and even developers, has become a fashion, a trendy job.. and this AI push will expediate this, until they all get bored.”

At what point does the game lose its own style and we just get generic realism faces on everything?

It’s a pretty grim look, but one that isn’t too shocking, considering what we have seen from the industry lately. Corporations looking to maximize profits, chasing trends, and not caring about the player experience or even the teams that have made them. Layoffs and shutdowns have plagued the industry even when teams have launched critically successful games. I wanted to get his perspective on what he would want to see come from AI advancements and is there a middle where the AI will be used well? “For sure, I want AI to do things like… stopping NPCs from walking to walls, have some memory, stop standing on tables, and better navigate stairs… what we used to call AI in games.” I agree, use AI to make the games smarter, make the NPCs react better and maneuver around the worlds more realistically.

He continued, “I don’t want it to show a better, more realist picture or play the game for me… I am capable of that myself. And my brain is way more capable of that than AI will ever be. Because I used to play games like, Ok you are those 3 pixels… go over there… those 6 pixels over there is a dragon, get that pixel behind it… it is a key to the next level.” Try to stay with me youngins, we are talking about some old games here. “And that night my brain would fill in the details from the experience. But as we remove the experience and replace it with over detailed and described scenes, your brain goes to sleep.”

We continue to make parallels to the movie industry since they seem to want to mirror each other. “It is funny how movies are trying to be games, and games are trying to be movies.” Which makes more sense recently, as the tech for both is so similar now. He elaborates further, “the gaming industry is becoming a lot more like Hollywood, bunch of insufferable self righteous w****, patting themselves on the back for making some crap, as the real movies and games get passed over… but also in the next round get ripped off and sucked into their creative process with no credit given, that is how that machine works.”

That is where indies get to set themselves apart with true art. Similar to what we are seeing with the rise of really great indie films as well. He responded, “we are a small man team just two people… we can wake up tomorrow and change the entire game if we like. Once those big guys get moving, they have to stay on track. We are a little pirate ship as indie devs … we can broadside those massive ships before they can even turn…or even make the decision too. And be out of there with the booty!”

That’s exactly the kind of spirit and passion that is needed for the indie scene to take the spot for when the AAA side start floundering with things gamers just don’t want. He ended our conversation with a positive note and a mind set that I think other indie developers would benefit from as well if they are nervous about any of this. “I don’t want to seem jaded and ‘old man screams at clouds’ type of things… I have been making games for 37 years now and still love doing it. And this is why I have no fear of AI because the pain and misery of creating is what makes it fun for me, something AI does not have, and I think as humans we can tell when something has soul in it.”

Ultimately, true gamers are going to continue seeking out true real experiences and as long as we have great, passionate indie devs pouring themselves into their games, we will continue to have true art in video game form. I’m not going to sit here and say the AAA industry is all doom and gloom, the tech itself is interesting, but it needs to be pivoted to provide better gaming experiences and not just movie realism visuals. For gamers, we remember the amazing moments that games provide us, the feelings, the emotions, the excitement, and wonder. Very rarely do we remember a game just because it had great graphics, and using AI to slap generic filters on everything is not what most want. Anyway, get out there and support your local indie dev, go wishlist some games that look great on Steam or whatever platform you use and show some love to these small creators that make the entertainment we love.