DLSS 3 mod for Starfield has a controversial DRM paywall

theverge.com:

By Jon Porter, a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.

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Starfield isn’t even officially out of early access yet, but one of its mods has already generated controversy within the community. The mod in question adds support for Nvidia’s DLSS 3 upscaling technology, which Bethesda omitted to include in Starfield in favor of AMD’s rival FSR 2. But users have been critical of modder PureDark’s decision to lock DLSS 3’s more advanced frame-generation features behind a subscription to their Patreon. The free version of the mod only supports DLSS 2, which offers upscaling but not frame generation.

Attempting to charge users for mods is a controversial topic, as Bethesda and Valve discovered when they teamed up to let modders charge for their Skyrim mods via Steam in 2015. The move was so controversial that Valve removed the feature just days later, with Valve’s Alden Kroll admitting that the company had “missed the mark pretty badly” with its decision to introduce the feature.

Particularly controversial has been PureDark’s decision to add DRM to the DLSS 3 Starfield mod in an attempt to prevent non-Patreon subscribers from getting access, though RockPaperShotgun reports that this copy-protection appears to have already been cracked. DLSS 3 is notable for offering frame-generation on newer 40-series Nvidia GPUs, adding additional frames in addition to upscaling the game to a higher resolution.

For what it’s worth, the non-paid DLSS 2 mod reportedly works well. RockPaperShotgun’s benchmarks show it matching or even slightly beating the