Obsidian has released its latest patch for The Outer Worlds 2 (version 1.0.4.1) not only eliminated a number of technical problems, including save game crashes, quest blockers and audio errors, but also quietly took a remarkable step: Sony's in-house upscaling technology PSSR is being removed from the PS5 Pro.
Instead, the game now relies on TSR (Temporal Super Resolution), an in-house development by Epic Games that has been in the Unreal Engine for some time and is temporarily achieving better results.
This might sound like a minor detail, but it's anything but unimportant. PSSR is actually one of the major selling points of the PS5 Pro – Sony's answer to DLSS and FSR. The fact that Obsidian is replacing the technology in a running game confirms this. ongoing criticism of the PS5 Pro.
Why Obsidian dropped PSSR
The studio has not officially given a reason. In the Patch notes It simply states that TSR is now being used to "Blurry grass on Paradise Island and unexpected flickering lights"to fix. Translated: PSSR simply delivered inaccurate results under certain conditions, following in the footsteps of games like Silent Hill 2, which struggled with similar issues. No further update has been released to date."
That's technically plausible. PSSR works similarly to DLSS, using temporal data and neural networks, but can exhibit visible noise in fast-paced scenes or with heavy particle effects. TSR, on the other hand, is more stable, albeit less spectacular. For a game like The Outer Worlds 2, which focuses on detailed landscapes and subtle lighting, that can make all the difference.
The rest of the patch
Aside from this change, Hotfix 1.0.4.1 brings classic repair work: crash fixes, corrected quest triggers, and fixed audio bugs. PS5 players will also benefit from more stable launch behavior if the game was only partially installed. Xbox users will receive a fix for the "blue noise" issue on grass and monitors. In short: no content update, but an important step towards technical stability.
Obsidian's decision to replace PSSR is another not-so-subtle hint. Apparently, Sony's new upscaling solution isn't yet as universally applicable as one would like, especially in combination with third-party engines. For gamers, TSR is currently the more reliable choice, even if it sounds less impressive on paper.
If Obsidian delivers a more stable image as a result, that's the right step. Better sharp grass than artificial intelligence that fails.
ha ha ha and again… so the Stollen pssr doesn't seem to be all that great xD
The arguments some people had here in the comments with others (including me) because they thought PSSR was a game-changer, that the PS5 Pro offered PC-like performance for much less money… the arguments ranged from "If you're too poor to buy a PS5 Pro, that's not my problem" to "A PC is much more expensive than a PS5 Pro, you save a ton of money with it 111!!!11" – so exactly the opposite…. Well, now the Pro has been out for a while and all you read is that games run even worse, PSSR doesn't work or is permanently disabled or replaced by other upscaling methods.
Sony has finally done some initial work with their "in-house development".
That was obvious, how could they develop a fully-fledged, high-performance replacement for FSR and DLSS in such a short time when AMD and Nvidia need years for it?!
It's funny how everyone lied to themselves to justify buying the PS5 Pro... in the end, the regular PS5 is sufficient for almost all games, and the PS6 isn't far off either.
I'm really sorry for the PS5 Pro users. I almost bought the Anniversary Edition of the Pro myself because of its looks, but it didn't work out, and in hindsight, I'm glad it didn't.