Assassin’s Creed Shadows is out for the Switch 2 next week, and ahead of launch, Ubisoft has published a “deep dive” about the technical aspects of this port. Firstly, in both docked and handheld modes, the frame rate will target 30 fps. Resolution hasn’t been revealed just yet.
As for adapting the title to this system, the team says it has done a lot of “code-level work” to optimise and adapt the game architecture. This includes “modifying game assets to streamline certain technical aspects of the quality” without compromising the overall player experience.
“Behind the scenes, we’ve worked a lot to make the world run smoothly and remain visually stunning and dynamic… For example, we’re using the same cloud and cloth simulation systems, but we’ve optimized certain elements for the ARM processor and downscaled simulation data where needed to reduce GPU load, all while preserving visual fidelity.”
Along with this is support for ray-traced Global Illumination – with the team opting to use its solid baked Global Illumination system (which it also uses for “low-spec PC setups and Xbox Series S versions” of games), and citing “RAM memory reasons” as the main decision behind this. It apparently allows the developers to preserve the overall experience as much as possible.
In terms of optimisation – Level of Detail (LOD), draw distances, texture resolution and element loading were all “carefully adjusted to maintain performance without compromising the world’s depth” – with the environmental richness of the world still “largely intact”. Although certain NPC counts have been reduced in highly populated areas to maintain “smooth gameplay”.
DLSS has also been utilised, resulting in a “sharper image, with more accurate colors, improved textures, and fewer visual anomalies”. Performance is also described as being “smoother, offering higher FPS through upscaling, better fluidity, and reduced latency”.
The same post goes into more detail about each mode on Switch 2 – explaining how handheld mode is GPU-limited, with adjustments to image quality, draw distance and LOD settings to prioritise performance. And in docked, players can expect HDR support. VRR is also leveraged in handheld, offering “smoother gameplay”.
It’s further explained how “the lower framerate limit for VRR is typically 40 fps, but Assassin’s Creed Shadows runs at 30 fps on Switch 2” and the team “didn’t want to compromise on that aspect” so it built a “dedicated algorithm that keeps VRR enabled even at 30 fps” to ensure the experience remains as “fluid and responsive as possible”.
Last but not least are some Switch 2-specific features including touch screen navigation for menus and maps. Nintendo players can also expect this version to include “all post-launch content” excluding the “Claws of Awaji expansion” due out in 2026. Cross-progression is supported as well via Ubisoft Connect, so you can continue your adventure across platforms.
