With Quick Spectral Super Resolution (QSSR), Sony is bringing AI-powered upscaling technology to the standard PS5 for the first time. The first updates will be for ” Marvel’s Wolverine ” and ” Ghost of Yōtei,” which will add QSSR as an optional graphics setting. In the future, the technology is expected to be available to all PlayStation developers.
TL;DR: QSSR (Quick Spectral Super Resolution) is a streamlined version of PSSR that Sony developed in collaboration with AMD as part of Project Amethyst specifically for the standard PS5. The original PSSR technology was simply too computationally intensive for the base console’s weaker GPU. QSSR launches on October 1, 2026, in Marvel’s Wolverine and Ghost of Yōtei, with more titles to follow.
What is QSSR, and why does this technology exist in the first place?
Since the launch of the PS5 Pro, PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) has been Sony’s answer to DLSS and FSR: A neural network internally upscales games from a lower resolution, reconstructing details that are lost with traditional upscaling. On the PS5 Pro, specialized hardware handles the bulk of the computational load.
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The standard PS5 lacks this additional hardware, and for a long time, that was the end of the story: PSSR in its original form simply didn’t perform well enough on that console. Sony and AMD therefore developed a leaner network as part of their joint initiative, Project Amethyst, which was manually tailored to the base console’s hardware: QSSR.
QSSR vs. PSSR: Here’s the Difference
Sony itself clearly positions the two methods in contrast to one another: PSSR remains the “gold standard” on the PS5 Pro, while QSSR is designed to deliver noticeable improvements in image sharpness and stability on the standard PS5 without overloading the console.
| Feature | PSSR | QSSR |
|---|---|---|
| Target Platform | PS5 Pro | Standard PS5 |
| Network Architecture | Full Model | Slimmer, hand-optimized variant |
| Development Partners | Sony / AMD (Project Amethyst) | Sony / AMD (Project Amethyst) |
| First games | including Silent Hill f, Monster Hunter Wilds | Marvel’s Wolverine, Ghost of Yōtei |
| Status | Established, continuously updated (PSSR 2.0) | Launching October 1, 2026 |
Sony does not provide specific details on resolution or frame rate in the announcement. The only thing that’s clear is the general direction: more image detail and smoother visuals, without pushing the base PS5 to its limits.
Which games will get QSSR first?
Two of the year’s biggest PS5 exclusives will kick things off: Marvel’s Wolverine from Insomniac Games and Ghost of Yōtei from Sucker Punch Productions will receive patches that add QSSR as a toggleable graphics option. Both studios have already commented on the new technology.
Mike Fitzgerald of Insomniac Games describes the effect as follows: QSSR provides sharper detail at the pixel level and greater image stability, revealing additional details—from the bustling streets of Madripoor to the narrow alleys of Shinjuku. Jasmin Patry of Sucker Punch Productions particularly highlights the frame rate stability, which previously wasn’t possible on the standard PS5, while still maintaining a detailed rendering of characters and environments.
What’s next for QSSR?
Sony has announced that it will make QSSR widely available to all PlayStation developers. As a result, the technology is likely to appear in significantly more titles going forward, similar to what has happened with PSSR on the PS5 Pro since its launch. Those who already own a PS5 Pro won’t notice any difference with QSSR anyway; there, PSSR—with all its updates, such as the recently rolled-out PSSR 2.0 version—remains the benchmark.
For owners of the standard PS5, however, QSSR is still one of the major software innovations of recent times: For a long time, Sony has reserved virtually every AI image enhancement for the Pro version. The fact that the technology is now coming to the standard console—albeit in a scaled-down form—shows that Sony doesn’t want to cut off the large installed base of standard PS5s from the latest upscaling technology.
Conclusion
With QSSR, the standard PS5 gets its own AI upscaling solution tailored to its hardware for the first time. Compared to PSSR on the PS5 Pro, the neural network is more streamlined, so the effect is likely to be slightly less pronounced, but for owners of the base console, this is the first true AI image enhancement ever. Whether QSSR delivers on Sony’s promises can only be assessed once the patches for Marvel’s Wolverine and Ghost of Yōtei go live. We’ll update this article as soon as more games receive QSSR support.
You can find more about upscaling on the PS5 in our articles on PSSR on the PS5 Pro, the planned PSSR 2.0 update, and the PS5 Pro itself. If you’re looking for the limited edition bundle for the Wolverine release, check out our article on the Marvel’s Wolverine PS5 Limited Edition.
Sources: PlayStation Blog
