Nvidia DLSS 5 Has Leaked, And It's Even Worse Than You Think

In March of 2026, Nvidia revealed the next evolution of Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology: DLSS 5. This AI-powered shader system was intended to improve graphics across the board, but audiences almost universally panned the idea and called it the AI slopification of games. They had no idea how right they were. Last night, participants in the "NBA 2K27" beta/early access discovered that the game includes what users believe is an early, experimental version of DLSS 5.

This program, dubbed Nvidia DLSSNR, was subsequently leaked to the internet, and modders did what they do best: got DLSSNR running in numerous games. Some of these titles include "Control" and "Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth." As you would expect, users who try out the leaked DLSS 5 feel that its graphical fidelity is a marked downgrade, but the issues don't end there.

According to modders, the system's main issue isn't how it allegedly betrays the artistic integrity of games but how it hamstrings performance. Depending on the title and GPU, framerates can drop as much as 50%. One user on X calculated that DLSS 5 made "Control" running on their RTX 5060 drop from 86 FPS to 32 FPS. Since the mod utilizes an allegedly unfinished version of DLSS 5, Nvidia can improve optimization before release so framerates don't take as steep a plunge. The filters that make games look like AI slop? Not so much. If the leak is any indication, don't expect DLSS 5 to turn into a must-use hidden Nvidia GPU feature anytime soon.

When Nvidia announced DLSS 5, the company posted a video on its YouTube channel that showed the shader in action. This compilation of before-and-after comparisons was the source of many AI-slop and anti-artistic integrity accusations, but the video didn't demonstrate the shader system properly.

According to clips shared on Reddit, DLSS 5 (or at least DLSSNR) works by first enabling DLSS Neural Rendering via a toggle. Afterwards, users can tweak the final result through multiple dropdown menus and sliders. These include presets and styles, skin structure and tone, and the intensity of neural rendering. As a result, users can make DLSS 5's filters as pronounced or subtle as they want. And yes, at their strongest, DLSS 5 makes a game almost unrecognizable. Ever wanted to see "Final Fantasy XVI" with downright cel-shaded graphics? You can with the right DLSS 5 tweaks. Or wrong ones, depending on your point of view.

As previously stated, the mod is running off an unofficial, incomplete version of DLSS 5, so it's unknown if any of the features on display will make it into the final version and which are just the result of modders guessing at how to fill in the functionality blanks. In fact, DLSS 5 only works with the Nvidia RTX 50 series of graphics cards, so while that could remain the case at launch, Nvidia might add compatibility for the RTX 40 line. Regardless, DLSS 5 won't be mandatory, so you don't have to activate it when playing games. And if you don't want the function on your GPU at all, you don't have to update your graphics card.

Originally, modders applied the DLSS 5 filter to games with realistic aesthetics such as "Control" and "Final Fantasy XVI." Granted, there's nothing realistic about the goings-on in those games, but at least the characters mostly follow base human body plans. But the more people got their hands on the mod, the more games they tested. And the results have been nothing short of eldritch.

Some of the latest games to get the AI filter treatment are titles such as "Final Fantasy XVI," "Hi-Fi Rush," and "Trails in the Sky: 1st Chapter." Unlike "FFXIV" and "Control," these games sport stylized graphics, and tests using the DLSS 5 mod reveal the filter doesn't understand anything other than realism. Take "Hi-Fi Rush," a game with bold, bright cel shading and character designs caught halfway between Western comics and Japanese manga (that's a compliment). The filter doesn't know what to do with the characters, so it stretches realistic looking human skin over the protagonist's cartoonish proportions and contrasts them against flat, muted clothes and assets. The results don't mesh.

As for "Trails in the Sky: 1st Chapter," when run through DLSS 5 a few times, that game gets hit with the mother of all ugly sticks. Like with "Hi-Fi Rush," the filter tries to make everything look realistic, but since "Trails in the Sky" features an exaggerated anime aesthetic, the results are even more exaggerated. All the locations look photorealistic, while the characters look like someone took pictures of real people and used photoshop to give them anime proportions, giant eyes and all. Oh, and the mod keeps giving everyone asymmetrical nostrils due to the shading used on character noses. The more people test DLSS 5, the more problems they unearth.