Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

Six months after its reveal, DLSS 5 has launched with NBA 2K27 and its utilisation is a world apart from the first clips, not to mention the vast array of modded footage we've seen since its leak last week. Rich, John and Oliver compare notes on the difference it makes, the huge performance cost, what is achievable with mods and more.

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0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:27 What is DLSS 5?
0:15:36 DLSS 5 visuals in NBA 2K27
0:25:07 DLSS 5 performance in NBA 2K27
0:42:17 Mods: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
0:50:03 Mods: Forza Horizon 6, Monster Hunter Rise, Starfield
1:00:14 Concluding thoughts
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While Grand Theft Auto 6's gameplay reveal somewhat overshadowed proceedings, it was indeed Gamescom 2026 this week and with Rich's legs giving out, it was down to John to represent us at the show. So, after dispensing with some gaming and technology news, John delivers his own "best of" tour of Gamescom, discussing the titles he loved.

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0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:01 News 1: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered revealed
0:12:52 News 2: Xbox disc to digital program officially announced
0:23:18 Gamescom demos: Fable
0:30:46 Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve
0:38:01 Capcom: Mega Man: Dual Override, Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen
0:46:51 Sega: Alien Isolation 2, Stranger than Heaven
0:54:48 Konami: Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, Silent Hill: Townfall
1:10:20 State of Decay 3
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26 minutes of actual GTA 6 gameplay "dropped" - and on balance, it's one of the most extraordinary visual accomplishments ever seen in real-time game graphics. It's not perfect - nothing can be - but in this DF Direct Special, Oliver and Rich share their thoughts and reactions to the presentation.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:24 Overall impressions
0:10:09 Performance: 30 FPS only
0:25:22 Lighting: shadowmaps, RT reflections, RTGI
0:37:31 Simulation and the open world
0:45:49 Image quality
0:50:57 Supporter Q1: How will next-gen consoles and PCs improve on the PS5 visuals?
0:56:55 Supporter Q2: Will PS5 Pro fix GTA 6’s image quality issues?
1:01:45 Supporter Q3: Will GTA 6 become a new highly contested PC benchmark?
1:04:56 Supporter Q4: How did the Netflix-only trailer launch go?
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At the time of recording, it was the lull before the storm that is Gamescom 2026 - but we've still got a bunch of fascinating questions to wade through. Have we got it all wrong with PlayStation 6? Is it actually the hotly rumoured handheld with Sony pivoting in a Nintendo-like direction? If games hit photorealism, where does that leave Digital Foundry? And are plasma TVs the new CRT?

00:00 Introduction
01:21 Sponsored by MSI QD-OLED
02:42 Supporter Q1: Could the next-gen PSP and PS6 be the same thing?
14:26 Supporter Q2: Should PC games rename their graphics settings to constrain performance expectations?
22:27 Supporter Q3: If games become photorealistic, what will Digital Foundry do?
31:20 Supporter Q4: Are plasma TVs the new CRTs?
42:58 Supporter Q5: Will DF leave secret messages about upcoming hardware in DF Directs?
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We're not going to be commenting on leaks from a stolen GTA 6 build that's years old and promoting a memecoin but we WILL be talking about Sony's comments on not knowing PS6's pricing and release date and assessing the Black Myth Zhong Kui gameplay reveal. Rich is intrigued by Alan Wake's big PC upgrade for AMD users, while John muses over the reported end of live service elements in Horizon Hunters Gathering. Finally, five years ago, Alex made a range of predictions about Switch 2 and DLSS... so how accurate did they turn out to be?

0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:49 News 1: Sony undecided on PS6 release date
0:20:18 News 2: Remedy adds FSR 4.1 support in Alan Wake 2
0:27:23 News 3: Black Myth: Zhong Kui demoed
0:34:57 News 4: Horizon: Hunters Gathering drops live service elements
0:45:38 News 5: Doom ported to 12 year old camera
0:51:59 Retrospective: Alex’s Switch 2 DLSS predictions
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