AI Upgrade for PS5 Games Could Be Massive

Sony isn’t done improving the PS5. While the PlayStation 5 Pro brought us new GPU microarchitecture, the company’s new AI software could prove far more significant for console performance in the months leading up to the Grand Theft Auto VI launch. The present console may see better performance and fewer glitches, though the future PS6—especially any rumored handheld form—may benefit even more.

The PS5 Pro proved it could be a more beastly option for PlayStation mainstay gamers, though there was a secret sauce hidden inside. The console was the first to support PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, or PSSR. It’s a kind of upscaling tech that takes frames rendered at a lower resolution and puts them through an AI pipeline to make the frames appear at a higher resolution. This keeps the improved performance for games to reach for the fabled 120Hz supported by the console. The original PS5 supported an earlier version of AMD’s hardware-agnostic FidelityFX Super Resolution, or FSR, though PSSR is more hardware-specific. AMD and PlayStation have been working with each other on “Project Amethyst.” It’s an effort to create expanded upscaling technology for both PCs and consoles (the gulf between those competing forms of gaming has shrunk to the size of a sidewalk crack as of late).

Gamers have been vocal about some of the graphical glitches they’ve noticed in games supporting PSSR. Now Sony seems to be brewing a major update to fix those flaws and do far more. The reliable AMD leaker known as “Moore’s Law is Dead” detailed Sony’s plans for a so-called “PSSR 2” in a YouTube video. Sony’s internal name for PSSR, Multi-Frame Super Resolution, will reportedly get upgraded to make it more efficient and decrease the amount of memory it needs to process images. Multi-Frame Super Resolution 2 could also enable better image quality, the YouTuber claims. That’s according to Moore’s Law’s sources, which include an anonymous game dev who reportedly has seen communications between Sony and developers.

Sony has already promised that it’s been working with AMD to bring some version of the latest FidelityFX Super Resolution, dubbed FSR 4, to PlayStation consoles. Moore’s Law is Dead claims FSR wouldn’t replace PSSR but instead be a separate option that games can use for upscaling. Both these upgrades could come in 2026.

Updated upscaling may not seem like such a big deal, but the impact that software like FSR and Nvidia’s DLSS (deep learning super sampling) has had on video game performance is massive. There are more games today that simply cannot achieve playable frame rates on all but the most expensive, high-end gaming PCs without some version of upscaling. Some recent PC titles like Black Myth: Wukong or Stalker 2 expect users to play with upscaling enabled by default.

Upscaling makes more sense on lower-end gaming devices, which is why this update could enable more portable PlayStations down the road. Multiple leaks have suggested Sony is working on a next-gen PS6 that will have some sort of Steam Deck-like gaming handheld as a playable option. This handheld may include a dock that lets you hook it up to a TV, akin to the Nintendo Switch 2. Moore’s Law is Dead’s industry sources claim Sony is pushing its recent low-power mode hard. This suggests Sony needs more developers on PlayStation to make their games run at lower resolutions with less power demand—something that’s necessary for more games to run on a power-sipping handheld.

Taken together, low-power mode and upscaling could enable players to run PlayStation 5-level games on a smaller handheld and not sacrifice so much in the visual department. Whereas Microsoft’s Xbox is pushing the $1,000 Asus ROG Xbox Ally X handheld PC, the company only recently enabled handheld-specific settings to achieve stable performance and better battery life. Sony could be emphasizing those features from the get-go, and hopefully at an affordable price point. We may have to wait through 2026 to see how it all plays out, but at least there’s a reason to stay excited about the consoles you already own.