Sony has confirmed that Resident Evil Requiem is the first game to use its upgraded PSSR upscaler on PlayStation 5 Pro.
The company made it official in a post on the PlayStation Blog, where Mark Cerny, Lead Architect, PS5 and PS5 Pro, said the upgraded version of PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) is rolling out globally to PS5 Pro players in the coming weeks.
PSSR is an AI library that analyzes game images pixel by pixel as it upscales them, and it’s been used to boost the effective resolution of over 50 titles on PS5 Pro to date, Cerny explained.
“We’ve been hard at work on a new version of PSSR, which takes a very different approach to not only the neural network but also the overall algorithm,” he added. “We are happy to share that Resident Evil Requiem — shipping today — is the first title to use this more advanced PSSR, which is helping to keep both frame rate and image quality high.”
Capcom’s Masaru Ijuin, Senior Manager Engine Development Support Section R&D Foundational Technology Department, commented: “With Resident Evil Requiem, we focused on enhancing the presentation quality of the protagonist through an upgraded version of RE Engine to deepen the player’s immersion in horror. For example, each individual strand of hair and beard is rendered as a polygon, allowing it to move realistically in response to body motion and wind. The way light passes through his hair changes depending on how the strands of hair are overlapped as well. This detailed expression of texture is one of the many details that we would especially love for our fans to see.
“The upgraded PSSR has allowed us to elevate our expressiveness by successfully processing these details and textural particularities, which are traditionally difficult to upscale because of their intricacy. We hope you will experience this unprecedented level of horror and visual fidelity, and the new gameplay feel it delivers.”
To illustrate the point, Sony published one screenshot of Resident Evil Requiem featuring original PSSR upscaling alongside the same image featuring the new PSSR upscaling. The strands of hair do look slightly more defined in the second screenshot.
Cerny said the algorithm and neural network used in the new PSSR stems from Sony’s Project Amethyst partnership with AMD. “Through AMD’s FSR 4 upscaling technology, PC gamers have already seen the benefits of our collaboration,” he said. “With the updated PSSR, we’re delivering the very latest of this co-developed technology with a further six months of refinement for PS5 Pro players.”
Sony said multiple existing games will be upgraded to the improved PSSR in March, but there’s no word yet on which games will be included. There will also be a system software update at that time; selecting “Enhance PSSR Image Quality” in Settings on PS5 Pro will allow you to experience the new PSSR with any PS5 Pro games that currently support PSSR.
“Once the system update releases next month, try it and see, some games may have noticeably crisper graphics,” Cerny said.
While the game has only been available a few hours, Requiem is already Steam’s biggest ever launch for a Resident Evil title. Meanwhile, fans are still puzzling through a convoluted in-game mystery that has stumped players with early copies — it’s more complicated than anything seen in the franchise to date, and something we’re keeping a close eye on.
“Like the result of an experiment conducted in an underground Umbrella Corporation lab, Resident Evil Requiem successfully splices two separate strains of survival horror together into the one highly infectious new mutation,” IGN wrote in our human-authored Resident Evil Requiem review, awarding the game 9/10.
IGN’s Resident Evil: Requiem guide will help you every step of the way through RE9. Take note of these key tips and tricks before you get started, and focus on finding these important items early. Plus, our comprehensive walkthrough will make sure you don’t miss a single Bobblehead or file as you try to survive from the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center all the way to Raccoon City.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
