Has Bethesda agreed with AMD not to include DLSS in Starfield?

Why it matters: As AMD adds Starfield to its stable of sponsored PC games, Nvidia RTX graphics card owners fear the game will never implement DLSS tech. Many have noted a pattern of AMD-promoted titles omitting DLSS but not viceversa.

When Wccftech asked AMD why almost none of the games the company promotes support DLSS, Team Red didn't deny the trend. The response has raised suspicions that most AMD marketing deals deliberately block DLSS, while Nvidia-sponsored games usually include AMD's FSR upscaling.

The outlet compiled a list of recent major releases, indicating which GPU manufacturer promoted a title and when they implemented either upscaling solution. Most titles under AMD partnerships like Far Cry 6, Resident Evil 4, or Dead Island 2 only support FSR. Conversely, both methods are supported by Nvidia-sponsored games like Redfall, Diablo IV, Ghostwire Tokyo, and Death Stranding.

Except for Square Enix's Forspoken, the only recent AMD sponsored games that include DLSS are all published by Sony. If Team Red's promotions indeed stipulate FSR exclusivity, perhaps Sony has more bargaining power to allow DLSS in titles like The Last of Us Part 1, Uncharted, and God of War.

In response to the accusations, AMD cited PCGamingWiki's comprehensive list of games that use advanced upscaling, noting that many only use DLSS. While the number of DLSS exclusive games from small and independent developers isn't insignificant, most significant releases that exclude FSR – Like Rainbow Six Siege or Fortnite – initially launched before AMD introduced the technology in 2021. Some games from 2020 or earlier, like Doom Eternal, added DLSS relatively recently while ignoring FSR.

The only recent high-profile titles that omit FSR are Marvel's Midnight Suns, Sackboy, and A Plague Tale: Requiem. Since the introduction of FSR 2 last year, more games have supported both upscaling technologies than exclude AMD's.

Furthermore, Nvidia has explicitly stated that its marketing deals don't include clauses to lock out FSR. "Nvidia does not and will not block, restrict, discourage, or hinder developers from implementing competitor technologies in any way," said Nvidia developer relations VP Keita Lida.

The primary advantage of FSR is that it works on all modern graphics cards regardless of make, while DLSS requires Nvidia hardware. Most comparisons give DLSS the advantage concerning image quality, while both solutions significantly improve game performance.

However, the technologies aren't mutually exclusive. It's unclear what, if anything, is stopping well-funded game studios from including both, especially since modders have filled in the gaps multiple times. Virtually every game that exclusively supports DLSS or FSR 2 has received a mod adding the other.

Prolific modder "PureDark" famously added DLSS 3 into Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Fallout 4. There's a good chance that him or someone else will develop an unofficial DLSS plugin for Starfield if this trend of AMD sponsored games excluding the rival tech continues, especially since Bethesda confirmed the game will support FSR 2.