007 First Light launches on May 27, and ahead of release, IO Interactive and Sony Interactive Entertainment have shared new details about the game’s enhanced visuals on the PlayStation 5 Pro. If you own a PS5 Pro, you will be able to enjoy the upgraded version of Sony’s PSSR technology, and IO says it delivers a way better image quality throughout the entire game.
Upgraded PSSR Will Be Enabled by Default on PS5 Pro
According to the developers, 007 First Light will automatically use Sony’s upgraded PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) on PS5 Pro.
The machine-learning upscaling technology is designed to reconstruct a better image at the same time as maintaining more stability during movement, something that can often be difficult in fast-paced games with lots of fine detail.
IO Interactive says the improvements are especially visible in:
- Dense vegetation and detailed environments
- Character close-ups during cinematics
- Hair, fabric, and fine geometric details
- Fast camera movement and action scenes
The studio also mentioned that shimmering and flickering are significantly reduced compared to previous upscaling methods, and that is honestly very good news.
IO Interactive Says Integration Was Surprisingly Easy
One of the more interesting details from the blog post is how quickly the team managed to integrate the upgraded technology. Principal Render Engineer Jon Rocatis explained that “We integrated upgraded PSSR in about a day and were essentially happy with what we saw straight away.”
According to IO, the new version required no per-scene changes, special adjustments, or specific optimizations. This is honestly pretty unusual for new rendering technology, but hopefully it does not mean things were overlooked just to get it out fast.
Technical Director Henrik Schlichter also described the upgrade as “A meaningful jump in image quality across the board.”
Players Are Split on the PS5 Pro Enhancements
The announcement, of course, immediately received mixed reactions online. Some players believe this is finally the type of upgrade that justifies owning a PS5 Pro, especially with larger upcoming releases like GTA 6 expected to heavily rely on image reconstruction technologies.
Others, however, remain skeptical. A lot of the criticism currently revolves around:
- The lack of direct base PS5 comparisons
- Uncertainty around framerate performance
- If the improvements are really noticeable during gameplay or not
Some players also pointed out IO Interactive’s history of performance issues at launch with previous games, making some fans cautious rather than fully convinced. The lack of base PS5 footage is also concerning because it might mean that the game will not perform that well on your base PS5.
Other Platforms Will Still Use FSR 3.1.5
Outside of PS5 Pro, 007 First Light will continue using AMD’s FSR 3.1.5 upscaling technology on other platforms. For now, IO Interactive seems particularly confident in the PS5 Pro version, with the studio repeatedly emphasizing how stable and clean the upgraded PSSR implementation looked during development, but it remains to be seen once the game is live!
With the game releasing in just over a week, you likely will not have to wait long before seeing how noticeable these upgrades really are in practice, if you own a PS5 Pro that is.
