War Thunder will add NVIDIA DLSS 5 in its next major update, Eagle’s Shadow, Gaijin Entertainment announced on November 3, 2026, in a Steam post. In its own November 3 announcement, NVIDIA says War Thunder “will add DLSS 5 support” in mid-November.
The Details
DLSS 5’s headline feature is 3D-Guided Neural Rendering. Gaijin says an AI model reads each rendered frame along with its color, motion vectors, and depth, then enhances “lighting, material properties, and shading” in real time while “preserving the original 3D scene and the developer’s artistic intent.” Gaijin promises deeper lighting, richer atmosphere in overcast weather and rain, more convincing wet surfaces, and subtler material detail.
The hardware line is the catch. NVIDIA says DLSS 5 is available on all GeForce RTX 50 Series desktop and laptop GPUs, RTX Spark devices, and GeForce NOW Ultimate streaming. Gaijin adds that on RTX 50 Series cards and RTX Spark devices, it “unlocks the full potential of the engine, including path tracing.” Neither company lists RTX 40 Series or older cards for DLSS 5. NVIDIA’s Game Ready Driver for it arrives on November 4 in the NVIDIA app.
NVIDIA’s own benchmarks claim War Thunder with DLSS 5 runs at up to 400 frames per second at 4K in a ground battle, and up to 300 frames per second at 1440p with path tracing on an RTX 5090 Laptop GPU. Those figures use Ray Reconstruction and up to 6X Multi Frame Generation, which adds generated frames, so they are not native frame rates.
Eagle’s Shadow itself is on War Thunder’s dev server until November 7 at 07:00 GMT (2 AM Eastern). NVIDIA says the update also brings dozens of new planes, ships, and tanks, cluster bombs for planes, and new visual effects. Gaijin has not given it a live date.
What This Means for Players
If you play on an RTX 50 Series card, install the November 4 driver and watch for Eagle’s Shadow: DLSS 5 arrives with the update. On an RTX 40 Series card or older, you stay on the DLSS features War Thunder already has, which NVIDIA lists as DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution, Ray Reconstruction, DLAA, and Reflex.
War Thunder is one of three games NVIDIA named today: Hogwarts Legacy gets DLSS 5 first, on November 5 (our best Hogwarts Legacy mods list is a good companion), and Where Winds Meet follows on November 23. For tuning other new PC releases, our Modern Warfare 4 PC settings and Phantom Blade Zero PC settings guides cover DLSS choices, and our Steel Fury Battle Pass rundown covers War Thunder’s current season.
When and Where
- DLSS 5 in War Thunder: with the Eagle’s Shadow update, which NVIDIA expects in mid-November 2026.
- Hardware: GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs and laptops, RTX Spark devices, GeForce NOW Ultimate.
- Driver: NVIDIA Game Ready Driver, November 4.
Sources: Gaijin Entertainment, “NVIDIA DLSS 5 Is Coming to War Thunder!” on Steam, and NVIDIA GeForce News, both November 3, 2026.