gta 6 launch trailer isn't using ps5's new qssr upscaler

Saw Push Square pointing out that the launch trailer we just got doesn't use QSSR, the new upscaler Sony added to base PS5 this month. It's basically a version of PSSR from the Pro but for the regular console. Right now it's only in first party stuff like Wolverine and Ghost of Yotei. A lot of people figured Sony timed it so third parties could use it for GTA 6, especially with the launch so close.

But apparently the trailer isn't running it. Push Square says they don't think we're seeing QSSR in the footage. That makes sense if you look at it. The trailer still looks incredible, but it's probably native 4K or whatever Rockstar's been using for their marketing captures. They've never been shy about showing the game running on high end dev kits or PC builds even when the console version will look a bit different.

I'm not really bothered by it. The launch trailer is a marketing piece, not a tech demo. Rockstar wants the game to look as good as possible, and QSSR might not be ready for third party devs yet. Or maybe they're just not bothering because the base PS5 version will use it but they didn't want to risk any weird artifacts in a trailer that millions of people will pause and zoom into frame by frame. We all know how that goes. One blurry background texture and suddenly the whole internet thinks the game is broken.

What I actually care about is whether the final game uses QSSR on base PS5. If it does, great, that could help performance without tanking image quality. If it doesn't, the game still looked fine in the extended look and the launch trailer, so I'm not losing sleep. Rockstar knows how to optimize for console. They've been doing it for decades. A new upscaler is nice but it's not going to make or break GTA 6.

I'll wait for Digital Foundry to do their deep dive after launch. That's when we'll actually see what resolution and upscaling the PS5 version is running. Until then, the trailer did its job. I'm hyped, and I don't need a marketing bullet point about QSSR to feel that way.

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Source: Push Square · Curated content.