Considering how effective NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution already are, how much can PC gamers really benefit from yet another upscaling solution? We should be getting a better answer to that question in just a few months, as Intel has shared some marketing materials that can confirm the company is planning to launch XeSS this summer.
Short for Xe Super Sampling, XeSS is a new upscaling technology from Intel that, similar to NVIDIA’s Deep Learning Super Sampling, leverages the power of AI to enable improved performance while increasing output resolution and preserving image fidelity. It is an open-source package that’s designed to work on a wide range of hardware.
XeSS is expected to debut in early summer in over 20 titles, according to graphics VP Roger Chandler, who hosted an introductory video for today’s launch of Intel’s Arc A-Series GPUs for laptops. They include Death Stranding: Director’s Cut, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Hitman 3, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the latter of which was one of the first games used by NVIDIA to demonstrate its early DLSS technology.
Intel’s XeSS AI upscaling won’t be available until sometime in ‘early summer’ (The Verge)
XeSS is meant to compete with other AI-based upscaling techniques, like Nvidia’s own Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), and promises to offer players better framerates without compromising on quality. (AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution aims to offer similar results, too, but doesn’t use the same super sampling methods as Intel and Nvidia.)
The goal of XeSS is similar to other upscaling techniques, offering players 4K-quality visuals without having to deal with the far more demanding hardware and power requirements for running actual 4K gameplay in real time (something that only the most powerful and pricey graphics cards like the RTX 3090 or the RX 6800 can really achieve right now).
Like Nvidia’s DLSS, games have to be specifically optimized to work with XeSS, with Intel touting a list of titles that includes Death Stranding: Directors Cut, Legend of the Tomb Raider, Ghostwire Tokyo, Chorus, Hitman 3, and more. And while all those games are already out, the fact that XeSS won’t arrive until the summer means that you won’t get Intel’s upscaling benefits on them even if you do pick up an Arc-powered laptop now.