Nvidia is ready to roll out DLSS 5 and introduce 3D-Guided Neural Rendering in an attempt to bring real-time graphics closer than ever to photorealism.

DLSS 5 Comes to NBA 2K27 September 3, 2026

Nvidia has teased DLSS 5 a few times, but now it is finally arriving. The new feature is set to make its debut this week thanks to a partnership with Visual Concepts and 2K to bring the feature to NBA 2K27 for the game’s launch.

DLSS 5 will be available starting September 3rd at 9pm Pacific Time in NBA 2K27 for all GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs and laptops, and GeForce NOW.

Peter Kavic, Senior Producer at Visual Concepts, explained the benefits of leveraging DLSS 5 for a series like NBA 2K.

“What’s great is the level of control that it gives us. We can set the overall tone and style to match our existing art direction and then really get precise where it matters most, using a per pixel uplift control mask to fine tune detail on characters. Given that we want to respect their likeness with the utmost care.”

The video game community as a whole has not always been welcoming to the use of AI in game development or rendering, so it will be interesting to see how this particular use-case is received by fans.

The fact that the tool was implemented in clear partnership with the developers may go a long way to earning some goodwill, since it doesn’t give the impression that the original artists’ work is being changed without their consent.

It also helps that DLSS 5 is just the next evolution of a technology that has already been implemented and evolving since Nvidia DLSS debuted in 2018.

“While previous DLSS technologies focused on reconstructing existing scene data to deliver higher-resolution images, additional frames, or cleaner ray-traced lighting, DLSS 5 with 3D-Guided Neural Rendering takes the next step by using AI to generate the rich lighting and material details that real-time performance constraints once forced developers to strip away, allowing them to realize their original artistic vision.”

Be sure to check back soon for more news on the wider rollout and adoption of DLSS 5.

NBA 2K27 officially launches on September 4, 2026 for Nintendo Switch 2, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles. The game is available now via early access for shoppers who pre-ordered the Deluxe or Ultra Edition.