Assassin’s Creed Shadows on Nintendo Switch 2: Port Analysis and Performance Insights

Ubisoft continues its commitment to bringing major AAA experiences to Nintendo platforms with the upcoming release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows for the Nintendo Switch 2.

Following the company’s successful port of Star Wars Outlaws, attention has now turned to Assassin’s Creed Shadows, a highly anticipated title set to expand the franchise’s presence on Nintendo hardware.

Launching next month, this new installment promises to offer Nintendo Switch 2 players an immersive open-world adventure, but naturally raises questions about how the port measures up against more powerful consoles like the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. Digital Foundry, an authority in technical game analysis, recently evaluated gameplay footage of Assassin’s Creed Shadows running on the Nintendo Switch 2.

According to their assessment, the port features some clear compromises compared to its counterparts on next-generation hardware.

Notably, ray-tracing technology, which enables more realistic lighting and reflections, is absent from the Switch 2 footage.

As a result, the lighting appears noticeably flatter in outdoor environments, with less subtle gradations between light and shadow.

Digital Foundry notes that this effect, alongside visible rasterization-related glow, suggests the Switch 2 version is utilizing the fallback global illumination method—similar to what’s used in performance modes on PS5 and Xbox Series X, as well as throughout the Series S. Additional graphical reductions were observed, including lower shadow quality, diminished volumetric effects, and the absence of per-object motion blur.

While these adjustments reflect typical trade-offs when adapting large-scale games to less powerful hardware, the core gameplay experience remains intact.

Most importantly, Digital Foundry highlighted that the Switch 2 version appears to maintain a stable 30 frames per second, supporting fluid exploration and combat throughout the in-game world.

The site concludes that given these findings, there are definite reasons to be optimistic about the technical quality of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows port on Nintendo Switch 2. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is scheduled for release on Nintendo Switch 2 next month, further solidifying Ubisoft’s presence on the platform alongside other major titles.

Previous Assassin’s Creed releases on Nintendo devices, such as Assassin’s Creed III Remastered and Assassin’s Creed: The Rebel Collection for Nintendo Switch, have been well-received, and expectations are high for this next-gen adaptation.

As the launch date approaches, more comprehensive hands-on analyses will provide greater insight into performance and graphical fidelity on Nintendo’s latest hardware.

For now, early indicators suggest that Ubisoft is once again delivering a robust and thoughtfully optimized port for the Nintendo community.

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