After Silent Hill f, Resident Evil Requiem, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and more, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the next game to enter the Upgraded PSSR era. Available next week for PS5 Pro players, the update promises improved image quality in Performance, Balanced and Quality modes.
On the PlayStation Blog, technical art director Robert Foriel says the technology delivers “sharper pixel quality and exceptional image stability, effectively eliminating distracting visual artifacts caused by motion and vibration, and creating a smoother, more immersive experience that allows players to stay fully engaged in the world without interruption.”
As showcased across various comparison videos, this also means significant improvements in ray-traced lighting, dynamic vegetation, and more. The former is more accurate and stable (with less flickering), while the latter looks much crisper, especially when viewed at a distance and in motion. Particle effects also benefit, delivering consistent quality even with multiple transparency layers.
However, its implementation was also seamless for the team, as noted by technical artist Nicholas Lopez. “The code changes were minimal, almost identical to the original PSSR integration. Yet the upgrade brings a noticeable improvement in image quality across the board. It’s rare to get such a significant visual boost with so little tuning required.”
Upgraded PSSR support goes live on April 7th with Title Update 1.1.9 at 7 AM PST. You probably shouldn’t expect much else in terms of new content, especially since it’s in the “final phase” of post-launch support, but here’s hoping for some surprises.
Other titles slated to receive support for the tech include Cyberpunk 2077, Alan Wake 2, and Control Ultimate Edition. Stay tuned for more updates on their release dates, and savor Upgraded PSSR while you can, especially since there are no plans to update it in the future.