Some Helldivers 2 PS5 Pro players are discovering noticeably improved performance

Some Helldivers 2 players on PS5 Pro have reported better performance without any patch notes to speak of. The game's community manager posted on Discord in January to expect some upgraded visuals. That hasn't stopped gamers from wondering what, if anything, has changed in Helldivers 2. To settle the debate, Digital Foundry tested the third-person shooter and found obvious differences in graphical fidelity and frame rates on the PS5 Pro.

With the PS5 Pro's modestly improved GPU, many games have been patched to benefit from Sony's pricey console. Most of these titles show a PS5 Pro Enhanced badge on the PlayStation Store. Helldivers 2 does not, making players wonder if the game's code was updated. Digital Foundry's tests left little doubt that there have been performance gains. 

The goal of performance mode in Helldivers 2 is to keep frame rates close to 60 fps. In reality, some maps with intense action regularly fall short of that mark on the PS5. On the PS5 Pro, the resolution gets bumped from 1080p to 1440p, and Digital Foundry also encountered fewer stutters. Images were sharper, and graphics were more comparable to gaming PCs with high-end GPUs. What's impressive is that Helldivers 2 doesn't employ Sony's PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) AI upscaling to achieve these gains.

Of course, many buyers aren't going to spend $700 on a console not to play a game at 4K. The Helldivers 2 quality mode maxes out at 1728p and 30 fps on the PS5, but Digital Foundry verified that the PS5 Pro renders the game at 4K. Unfortunately, frame rate boosts weren't as pronounced as with performance mode.

It's clear that Helldivers 2 performance has seen some modest gains on the PS5 Pro. It's a bit strange that Sony or developer Arrowhead hasn't released more details on an update. Other titles have been slapped with the PS5 Pro-ready label with only minor changes in resolution and frame rates.