Horizon Zero Dawn Finally Gets DLSS, FSR Support On PC

Horizon Zero Dawn has taken a big step forward with its PC version today, with a new patch adding both Nvidia DLSS and AMD FSR.

Both upscaling technologies are available now in the game's latest patch, which replaces the previous dynamic scaling options that have been present since launch. AMD FSR is the easiest to get going with, given that it isn't exclusive to any hardware. It's a linear scaler, however, so it won't yield the best results in terms of image quality the more you try and claw back frame rate by downscaling the resolution.

Nvidia's DLSS is the king in this regard, despite being exclusive to the company's RTX line of GPUs. The deep-learning algorithms reconstruct the lower resolution image incredibly convincingly, with Nvidia stating that you can expect up to 50% better performance with it enabled.

The patch removes the need for the game to compile its shaders before you start, which used to be a real annoyance to wait for every time you launched the game. The shaders will now instead load in the background, letting you get into the game faster. It does mean that you might encounter some higher CPU usage in the background as shaders are compiled when needed, which may also increase load times on slower systems. Nothing comes free.

Horizon Forbidden West, the sequel to Zero Dawn, is scheduled to launch on PS4 and PS5 in February, 2022. A PC release has not been confirmed for the sequel.