Sony is deepening its collaboration with AMD to develop AI-powered technology, which aims to enhance both the visual quality and gameplay experience across gaming platforms. This partnership focuses on integrating machine learning into graphics and gameplay, as announced by Mark Cerny, lead architect for the PS5 and PS5 Pro, on Wednesday.
The two companies have worked together on the PS5 and PS5 Pro’s GPUs, utilising AMD’s RDNA 2 architecture. The PS5 Pro also features PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), a technology designed to improve image clarity and frame rates.
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Cerny revealed (via The Verge) that the collaboration extends into a new, multi-year initiative called “Amethyst,” which aims to develop machine learning-based technologies for game graphics and gameplay. While specific details about the project remain unclear, the outcome may impact future PlayStation hardware and other devices powered by AMD technology.
Key Goals of Project Amethyst
There are two main objectives behind Project Amethyst. First, the companies aim to create an ideal machine learning architecture optimised for handling lightweight convolutional neural networks (CNNs), which play a key role in game graphics processing. Second, the collaboration will produce high-quality CNNs for graphics that will improve the richness of visuals in games. Both Sony and AMD will have independent access to this collection of network architectures and training strategies, allowing them to advance the use of ray tracing and path tracing in future games.
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Broader Impact Beyond PlayStation
Sony and AMD emphasise that the benefits of this collaboration will not be exclusive to PlayStation consoles, according to the IGN report. The goal is to create technology that can be widely used across PCs, consoles, and cloud platforms. Cerny explained that the effort is designed to support machine learning across various devices, enhancing the gaming experience beyond just PlayStation.
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While the work is in progress, it appears that any hardware implementing these advancements is still some time away. Cerny stated that fans should not expect any major hardware announcements soon, with the development of a console typically taking around four years. Therefore, technology from Project Amethyst may not appear in PlayStation hardware until the PlayStation 6, though specific details on its release remain uncertain.