NVIDIA Launches DLSS 4 Plugin for Unreal Engine 5.6 with Transformer Tech

NVIDIA has officially released its DLSS 4 plugin for Unreal Engine 5.6, ushering in a new era of AI-powered graphics enhancements for game developers.

With the new plugin, developers using the latest Unreal Engine can now fully integrate NVIDIA’s Transformer-based upscaling technology, offering notable gains in both performance and visual quality.

DLSS 4, initially introduced alongside the GeForce RTX 50 series in January, marks a major step forward from its predecessors by replacing the older convolutional neural network (CNN) model with the more efficient Transformer model. The change results in better visual fidelity, less VRAM usage-reportedly up to 20% less-and greater flexibility in features like Frame Generation, Ray Reconstruction, and Super Resolution.

While some DLSS 4 features are exclusive to RTX 50 cards, the broader framework is compatible with any RTX GPU. However, it’s important to note that DLSS 4 functionality must be explicitly injected into games by developers using the official plugin provided by NVIDIA.

Unreal Engine 5.6, which just launched last month, boasts significant performance improvements over earlier versions. Despite UE5 already supporting DLSS in earlier iterations like 5.0, the dedicated plugin for 5.5 and 5.6 was notably absent-until now

. With this release, developers can fully exploit the engine’s CPU and GPU performance gains, pairing them with DLSS 4’s advanced AI rendering techniques.

Among the standout additions are Multi-Frame Generation and enhanced upscaling, which are critical for smoother gameplay and reduced rendering loads-particularly vital for high-demand environments like VR. While Frame Generation isn’t yet available for VR, developers are hopeful NVIDIA and Epic Games will bring this feature to immersive platforms soon.

However, not everyone is sold. The Unreal Engine ecosystem has been criticized for frequent version updates, making it difficult for developers to keep pace. Some users argue that despite the rapid iteration, core issues like frame stuttering persist, and only games made by Epic themselves-like the original Unreal-stand out as true showcases of the engine’s potential.

Still, for developers working with Unreal Engine 5.6, the arrival of the DLSS 4 plugin is a welcome opportunity to enhance gameplay performance and push the limits of what AI-enhanced graphics can achieve in modern titles.

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