Nvidia DLSS 5 arrives September 3: NBA 2K27 gets it first

Nvidia has put a date on DLSS 5: September 3. The update brings its new 3D-Guided Neural Rendering to RTX 50-series desktop and laptop GPUs, along with GeForce Now. Right now, Nvidia has confirmed just one launch game, NBA 2K27, which arrives on PC that same day at 9 PM PT. According to Nvidia, the system can rework lighting, shadows, textures, and other image data to give games a more photoreal look.

And that’s also why the update has stirred up so much pushback. The March demos, especially the Resident Evil Requiem shots of Grace Ashcroft, caught heat for altering faces and changing the overall styling of scenes. Then a leaked NBA 2K27 DLL was used in Control, Cyberpunk 2077, and Skyrim, which pushed that argument further.

Nvidia’s latest position is that developers still have fine-grained control, with granular sliders and the option to leave faces untouched. In more recent NBA 2K27 demos, the effect looked more restrained. Even so, titles shown back in March, including Resident Evil Requiem, EA Sports FC, Starfield, and Hogwarts Legacy, still won’t be getting DLSS 5 on day one.

If you use RTX 50 hardware or GeForce Now, this launch is worth keeping an eye on. Frame rates are still expected to drop by 50 to 60 percent, even with the big gains shown in early dual-RTX 5090 demos and the boost from Multi Frame Generation. DLSS 5 makes its debut first with NBA 2K27 on PC, RTX 50-series systems, and GeForce Now on September 3.