Probably the most bold titles lined up for the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, CD Projekt RED‘s Cyberpunk 2077 has been showcased through work-in-progress code seen on the console’s launch tour. Digital Foundry had the chance to go hands-on at the recent London event and whereas our preliminary impressions are on the file, many questions remained unanswered. Is the port utilizing Nvidia DLSS? CDPR has now confirmed that the reply is sure, making this the primary recognized title to make use of the machine learning-based upscaling know-how.
“We’re utilizing a model of DLSS obtainable for Nintendo Swap 2 {hardware}, powered by Nvidia’s Tensor cores,” the agency informed us. “The sport utilises DLSS in all 4 modes: in handheld and docked, and the efficiency and high quality variations of every.”
DLSS has been seen as a ‘magic bullet’ of kinds within the run-up to the Swap 2’s unveiling. In a world the place builders are pushing visible know-how to the subsequent degree, operating video games at full native res with constant efficiency turns into unviable, so rendering at decrease rendering resolutions is commonplace, with upscalers used to provide the ultimate output picture. These upscalers can vary from primary bilinear scaling to extra superior strategies, like TAA upscaling – the place data from prior frames is fed into the present one to enhance element.
DLSS is a type of TAA upscaling, however with a twist – by feeding the decrease decision body together with historical past from prior frames and different knowledge, comparable to movement vectors – a neural community is then used to reconstruct the picture. Because the Swap 2’s GPU contains machine studying tensor cores, there is no motive why any DLSS know-how could not come to the Nintendo hybrid – the caveat being that there is nonetheless a computational value to utilizing it.
- 0:00:00 Introduction
- 0:02:39 Information 1: Subsequent-gen moveable PlayStation allegedly detailed
- 0:20:16 Information 2: Cyberpunk 2077 on Swap 2 makes use of DLSS!
- 0:31:30 Information 3: Swap 2 docked VRR assist in query
- 0:39:18 Information 4: Alex explains Nvidia’s GDC 2025 displays
- 0:56:50 Information 5: Star Wars Outlaws appears to be like questionable on Swap 2
- 1:04:49 Information 6: Mario Kart World Direct impressions!
- 1:11:11 Supporter Q1: What would a possible Swap Professional have seemed like?
- 1:15:57 Supporter Q2: What’s the Swap 2’s true GPU efficiency, absent “flopflation”?
- 1:23:23 Supporter Q3: Ought to Indiana Jones use extra ray tracing options on PS5 Professional?
- 1:27:51 Supporter This fall: What might the NPU within the Z2 Excessive do for gaming?
- 1:31:54 Supporter Q5: Might the PlayStation Portal connect with the upcoming PlayStation handheld?
CD Projekt RED additionally confirmed that the present goal for the Swap 2 model of the sport is to supply totally different graphics modes – a high quality and efficiency toggle for the hand-held and docked variations. When linked to a TV, there’s the selection of a 30fps high quality mode and a 40fps efficiency mode. The latter would presumably function solely with the TV in 120Hz mode – a brand new body for each three show refreshes, up in opposition to the 30fps high quality mode which delivers a brand new body for each different refresh. With constant efficiency, each ought to look clean, with the 40fps mode sitting between 30fps and 60fps when it comes to fluidity. Each modes are utilizing 1080p because the output decision with dynamic decision scaling in impact together with DLSS.
The hand-held mode – as issues stand – is barely totally different. Essentially in order system efficiency is decrease. On this state of affairs, the standard mode continues to be outputting a 1080p picture with DLSS and dynamic decision scaling, once more concentrating on 30fps. The efficiency mode sees the output decision drop to 720p, with the hand-held display in 120Hz mode and 40fps because the goal.
By way of enter resolutions, our preliminary pixel counts from the very, very brief snippet of footage seen within the Nintendo Direct delivered readings from 540p to 1080p – and the actual fact we might pixel depend it in any respect made us doubt whether or not DLSS was in play in any respect. CD Projekt RED has additionally confirmed that “scaling can vary from 2x and up per axis”, so relying on GPU load, the DLSS upscaler can be fed with something from 540p to 1080p within the 30fps high quality modes and the docked 40fps efficiency mode. For the hand-held iteration of the efficiency mode, the 2x and up scaling would counsel DRS between 360p and 720p, relying on GPU load.
DLSS compatibility had been talked about by Nintendo and Nvidia in earlier PR, however its use in Cyberpunk 2077 (and in each handheld and docked configurations, no much less) is our first affirmation of the know-how being utilized in a launch title. Nonetheless, we’re seeing a barely totally different utilisation of DLSS in comparison with PC. There, it is sometimes the case that post-processing parts are rendered on the identical output decision. So, if you happen to’re outputting 1080p from a 540p picture, there are nonetheless parts of the picture that must be rendered at full 1080p.
It could be the case that Cyberpunk 2077 continues to be rendering these post-processed parts at enter decision as a substitute, which can clarify why we’re in a position to see apparent stair-stepping edges that make pixel-counting doable. As you may see within the DF Direct posted in the present day, it does look to be the older convolutional neural community model of DLSS that is getting used – not Nvidia’s freshly minted DLSS 4.0 transformer mannequin.
In our hands-on with Cyberpunk 2077 at the Switch 2 London event, our impression was that CDPR’s work-in-progress code was recognisably Cyberpunk, however we encountered many conditions the place it appeared each CPU and GPU had been over-taxed leading to some lurching drops to efficiency. Nonetheless, the code was seven weeks previous at that time with a great deal of improvement time remaining till the Swap 2 launch on June 5. We view Cyberpunk 2077 as one thing of a benchmark recreation – and might’t wait to see closing code on the brand new Nintendo console.
