We normalized terrible gaming performance — and it's impossible to go back

PC gaming performance has declined significantly as developers rely on upscaling (DLSS/FSR/XeSS) and frame generation instead of proper optimization, while GPU manufacturers like Nvidia shift focus to AI data centers over consumer gaming hardware. AAA games now require software crutches to reach playable framerates even on high-end hardware. The blame is shared across developers who stopped optimizing, GPU makers who abandoned hardware innovation, and gamers who accepted these compromises. The piece argues this normalization has created a cycle that is now nearly impossible to reverse.