Valve is working with AMD to bring FSR 4 to the Steam Machine

The Steam Machine is a great little console that’s as powerful as the PlayStation 5, according to my colleague Sean Hollister. In-depth review. But one area where it falls behind is the previous version of the AMD FSR upgrade tool: it’s not as good as it could be. Yes, it can enhance low-resolution graphics to make games look higher resolution, but the PS5 (especially… PS5 Pro) deliver a sharper picture in motion with some of the games we compared.

That’s not great news for the Steam Machine, especially since it’s launching at $1,049 for the 512GB version — a higher price than anyone had hoped for. But there is some hope that games on the console will look somewhat better in the future. said Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffis Edge They are working with AMD to bring FSR4the latest in its suite of scaling and performance optimization tools to the Steam Machine.

In an email, Valve adds that FSR 4 is “coming soon” but “can’t say more about timing.” All of this is encouraging to hear, since the last time we heard in the “It Won’t Happen” drama, the possibility of AMD bringing FSR 4 to machines with RDNA3 integrated GPUs (like the Steam Machine) was on the cards. A little bleak.

The FSR 4 has several improvements that improve how Upscaler-compatible games run (including AI-assisted framerate generation), which will hopefully give the Steam Machine a definitive edge over Sony’s six-year-old, $650 console. Valve tells us that it “should offer a significant improvement in upgrading graphical quality.”

Additional reporting by Sean Hollister.