Nvidia RTX 5090 and 50-series cards drop support for PhysX, affecting older games
Nvidia’s PhysX wowed gamers back in the day in titles like Batman: Arkham Asylum
😢 Nvidia 50-Series GPU owners are missing out on a classic feature
👎 Nvidia has confirmed that PhysX is “deprecated on GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs”
😣 It means games like Batman: Arkham Asylum will lose graphical features
🤷♂️ PhysX was one of the more exciting PC technologies and it’s sad to see it go
Nvidia PhysX was one of its most promising PC technologies a few decades ago. It allowed developers to implement more convincing particle and clothing effects, like interactive smoke plumes or glass that shatters into pieces.
Several marquee releases employed PhysX such as Batman: Arkham Asylum, Mafia II, and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. However, new RTX 5090, RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, and RTX 5070 owners will have to go without PhysX support.
As spotted by PCGamesN, a user noticed that PhysX was causing performance problems on the latest Nvidia cards. A Nvidia staff responded, saying: “This is expected behavior as 32-bit CUDA applications are deprecated on GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs”.
Most game engines nowadays are capable of complex physics and simulations, but there’s still something compelling about PhysX. I remember being amazed by how it transformed environmental destruction in Mafia II, and it made the Batman games even more immersive. I’m glad I’m able to still enjoy it on my Nvidia RTX 4070 Super.
The removal of PhysX isn’t a surprise, but it’s clearly caught some users off guard. You don’t expect to purchase the latest GPU and end up with less features or worse performance in certain games. Most titles let you turn PhysX off, however, games like Borderlands 2 don’t, resulting in a noticeable performance impact.
As support for PhysX ends, it’s likely that the PC modding community will come up with a solution. Still, it’s a shame that cards that can comfortably run PhysX – which was very demanding at the time – won’t be able to.
If you’re waiting for AMD to announce its next lineup of GPUs, there’s not long to go. A reveal event will take place on February 28, with a launch expected to take place in early March. However, make sure you have a high wattage PSU.
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.
