Sony’s new AI technology, QSSR, is designed to significantly improve image quality on the standard PlayStation 5. However, adding support for older games could be more complicated than previously thought. According to the technical experts at Digital Foundry, certain development tools may pose a major hurdle. As a result, it remains unclear how many already-released PS5 games will actually benefit from the new upscaling technology. The assessment is notable because Sony had previously described integrating QSSR as relatively straightforward. However, newly developed games may differ significantly from older titles.
Digital Foundry Sees Potential Difficulties with QSSR Updates
In a recent Q&A, Digital Foundry addressed how easily developers can integrate Sony’s new upscaling technology into already-released PlayStation games.
Technical expert Richard Leadbetter identifies a potential stumbling block: the Software Development Kit (SDK). These tools let studios program and optimize games for the PlayStation 5. The key question is whether QSSR will also work with older versions of the SDK.
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If QSSR requires a newer SDK version, studios will first need to update their existing projects before adding the upscaler. Leadbetter has already heard that this could be a challenge for older titles, though no definitive technical confirmation exists for every affected game.
Why PSSR Was Easier to Retrofit on the PS5 Pro
It’s interesting to compare this with PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR). The original AI upscaling technology was developed specifically for the PS5 Pro and can also be retrofitted into compatible games.
According to Digital Foundry, PSSR benefited from a technical feature: developers could sometimes integrate the technology into games built with older SDK versions, eliminating the need to update large parts of the existing development environment.
With QSSR, that advantage may be missing. The issue isn’t the reconstruction process itself but integrating it into finished games. The gap could be especially wide for titles developed several years ago.
A seemingly minor update can require significant effort.
To players, adding a new upscaling feature may sound simple. After all, QSSR doesn’t change the game world; it just renders a high-quality image from a lower internal resolution. In practice, though, the upgrade is more complex.
A game comprises many technical components that must work in tandem: the graphics pipeline, memory management, rendering methods, and OS communication. Migrating an existing project to a newer SDK requires developers to confirm that these systems still function together properly.
Sometimes the code must be adjusted, bugs hunted, and gameplay scenarios retested. Even if QSSR eventually slots in without trouble, the upfront work can be substantial.
For a live game that already receives regular updates, the upgrade might make economic sense. The math looks different for an older single-player adventure that is no longer in active development. In that case, studios would need to assign extra staff and resources, even if the title now generates only modest revenue.
Sony had initially described the integration as simple
At first glance, the new information appears to contradict Sony’s earlier statements. Daniel Craig, Principal Engineer for Graphics Research & Development at Sony Interactive Entertainment, had described the integration of QSSR as fundamentally straightforward. According to him, the new technology could largely replace existing upscaling solutions in rendering methods already supported. Afterward, only certain adjustments and optimizations would be necessary. However, this statement is not necessarily incorrect. It primarily describes the actual technical implementation within a suitable development environment. The issue raised by Digital Foundry may actually arise one step earlier.
If an older title first requires a port to a newer SDK, that extra work must be done before the relatively straightforward QSSR integration even starts. Both assessments could therefore be accurate without fundamentally contradicting each other. It remains to be seen whether Sony will extend similar capabilities to older SDK versions.
What does this mean for older PS5 games?
For owners of the standard PlayStation 5, one key question is which games will receive a QSSR update. The new technology is designed to improve image quality on the base console without requiring the more powerful PS5 Pro hardware. Games that render internally at a lower resolution to hit higher frame rates could benefit most.
QSSR could help reduce the resulting losses in image sharpness and stability. However, this improvement does not happen automatically. Developers must integrate the technology and then test how the new image reconstruction affects visuals and performance.
If the SDK limitations Digital Foundry describes do exist, support may first target newer releases and actively maintained games. Retroactive updates for older titles would be less likely, though not impossible.
Ghost of Yōtei and Wolverine Already Show the Potential
The first supported games prove the technology works on the standard PS5. Marvel’s Wolverine and Ghost of Yōtei are already pioneering the feature. Technical analyses of the upscaler in Marvel’s Wolverine show visible gains in image detail and the stability of moving objects.
In Ghost of Yōtei, the gains are less obvious because the game already ran with high-quality visuals. Outcomes therefore depend heavily on each title’s original development and any reconstruction methods already in place. We previously covered QSSR’s launch and technical foundations in our article “PS5 Now Gets AI Upscaling with New QSSR Technology.”
We also addressed whether this brings the standard PS5 closer to the PS5 Pro in our analysis “The Standard PS5 Gets AI Upscaling and Puts Pressure on the PS5 Pro.” The current discussion focuses more on practical adoption than on visible quality.
A general QSSR option could also prove difficult
Another open question is whether Sony will ever enable QSSR for older games via a system-wide option. The PS5 Pro already lets users apply improvements to certain supported titles through system settings.
According to Digital Foundry, however, QSSR lacks a comparable central technical foundation to the one used for PSSR. This may explain why a universal QSSR setting for already-released PS5 games does not currently seem feasible. As a result, players cannot simply enable the technology for every title and expect higher image quality.
For now, implementation remains the responsibility of individual studios. We already reported on October 2 that Sony plans to bring QSSR to many more games. How quickly that rollout happens will likely depend on the support Sony provides its development partners.
Upcoming titles will reveal how high that barrier really is.
Digital Foundry’s findings raise an important question for the future of QSSR.
The new AI image reconstruction is already impressive, but its long-term value hinges on how many games actually support it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsFBZjdrh8Q For older titles, the extra development work could decide whether a QSSR update remains economically viable.
It’s unclear whether every older title will need an SDK update, and Sony has not yet published a list of games that cannot be supported for technical reasons. The coming months will show whether QSSR takes root mainly in new PS5 games or can also be integrated into existing libraries.
For owners of the standard PS5, the technology is an intriguing upgrade, but its long-term value hinges on both the upscaler’s quality and the integration workload. Share your thoughts in the comments.
