I’ve seen people repeatedly ask if the upcoming Ubisoft open-world shooter, Far Cry 6, will support Nvidia’s DLSS technology. Instead of just answering this on Twitter, Reddit, and just about everywhere else, I figured it would be best just to spread a bit of knowledge on this topic.
So, let’s address this question one last time, alright?
Does Far Cry 6 support Nvidia’s DLSS technology?
The short answer is nope! There’s no DLSS in Far Cry 6, but it doesn’t mean that there’s no hope for the game. If that’s all you were looking for, then you’re free to leave. However, if you want a deeper answer, do stay and read on.
A while back, you may or may not recall that AMD had announced they were working with Ubisoft on Far Cry 6. This happened back in November 2020. Before that, AMD had also announced its next generation of graphic cards; the RX 6800, RX 6800 XT, and the RX 6900 XT. And you thought Nvidia’s naming structure was odd. With these new cards being released, it made sense for AMD to pair up with Ubisoft and try to one-up Nvidia, who was gobbling up several games, including AAA blockbusters and incorporating Nvidia’s DLSS technology. AMD saw this as an opportunity to sell their GPUs, and Ubisoft went along with them.
Are you still with me?
Seeing that Ubisoft was working with AMD, they added several of AMD’s own technologies to Far Cry 6. This includes FidelityFX Contrast Adaptive Sharpening, Hybrid SSR, Ray Tracing, VRS, and FreeSync Premium pro. There’s one important piece there, FideltyFX Contrast Adaptive Sharpening, which is AMD’s competitor to Nvidia’s DLSS, or should I say, was. When AMD released FidelityFX Contrast Adaptive Sharpening, it was a means to provide an image rendered at a lower than native resolution while cleaning it up. Sound familiar? Since then, AMD has come up with a better solution called FidelityFX Super Resolution. On paper, it does what DLSS does, and there’s been some conversion about that.
All I can say is that after testing FidelityFX Super Resolution, it works better than expected and is putting up quite a fight against Nvidia’s DLSS. Moreso, FidelityFX Super Resolution beats DLSS in one arena; it works with both AMD and Nvidia GPUs. In addition to working on much older AMD cards, it also works with Nvidia’s GTX 1000 and 1600 series cards and the RTX 2000 and 3000 series cards. In fact, Marvel’s Avengers is the first game to both FidelityFX Super Resolution and DLSS.
This image shows FidelityFX Super Resolution in action, with several, presets, compared alongside the native resolution. Here you can see that Godfall struggles to hit 60FPS at native. However, just like DLSS, there are multiple FidelityFX Super Resolution presets, and with each one, we can see how Godfall surpasses the native resolution.
Each preset affects the image quality by dialing down the input resolution per the native resolution. Here’s how it breaks down per 1440p and 4K resolutions:
FSR Quality Presets at 4K
- Ultra Quality – 2954 x 1662 (closest to native resolution)
- Quality – 2560 x 1440
- Balanced – 2259 x 1270
- Performance – 1920 x 1080
FSR Quality Presets at 1440p
- Ultra Quality – 1970 x 1108 (closest to native resolution)
- Quality – 1706 x 960
- Balanced – 1506 x 847
- Performance – 1280 x 720
Now, you’re probably saying that it will look terrible because the software is rendering at a lower resolution. Well, again, just like DLSS, FSR renders internally, then upscales the image quality. The result is faster frame rates, with less overhead impact than playing the game at the native resolution. It’s basically taking the in-game resolution -> FSR then renders it at whatever preset you select -> then performs magic -> resulting in better frame rates and an overall experience. There are zero reasons to play a game and not using FSR (or DLSS) whenever you can.
Get me so far? FidelityFX Super Resolution is amazing stuff from the AMD camp. But you’re likely saying by now that this doesn’t answer your question. Ok, let’s get to that. Since Far Cry 6 is an AMD-sponsored game, there’s no DLSS. And while you’re not getting Nvidia’s tech, AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution is onboard, and gamers will (should) see the same benefits, or at least, that’s the plan.
So, the answer is Far Cry 6 doesn’t support DLSS because AMD and Ubisoft are pimping FidelityFX Super Resolution. But it should be an amazing experience nonetheless.
Far Cry 5 releases on October 7th, 2021, on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Do you know what platform you’ll be playing the game on? For me, I’ll be playing on the PC, but I’m sure you already know that. Let us know where you’ll be playing in the comments.
