An update to the FidelityFX SDK 2.0 toolset allows activating the new version of FSR without official patches from developers.
AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) has long lagged behind Nvidia DLSS in one aspect: users could not independently update the technology version and were forced to wait for patches to be released. Now this restriction has been partially lifted.
The GitHub community has discovered that games with FSR 3.1 support can be updated to FSR 4 by manually replacing the DLL files from the latest AMD FidelityFX SDK 2.0.
The SDK contains three libraries: amd_fidelityfx_framegeneration_dx12.dll, amd_fidelityfx_loader_dx12.dll, and amd_fidelityfx_upscaler_dx12.dll. For the upgrade to work, you need to rename the loader file to amd_fidelityfx_dx12.dll and copy all three libraries to the game folder, deleting the old DLL versions. Two builds cannot work simultaneously.
The method has already been tested in practice: in Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, one user managed to get version FSR 4.0.2 to appear in the graphics settings. In essence, this approach is reminiscent of manually updating DLSS before the appearance of official "overrides" in the Nvidia application.
The limitation remains for owners of video cards of series lower than RX 9000: even after replacing the files, they will only receive FSR 3.1.5. AMD also plans to introduce support for FSR 4 updates through Adrenalin drivers, which will allow bypassing patches for specific games, but this mechanism is not yet available.
