If you've been waiting patiently Assassin's Creed Shadows on Switch 2your time is almost here, arriving on console next Tuesday, December 2nd. And ahead of its release, Ubisoft shared a little more detail, detailing some of the technical tricks it used to make the game work on Nintendo's platform, as well as some of its exclusive features.
Assassin's Creed Shadows released for other platforms back in March after a number of delays, taking the series to 16th century feudal Japan for an adventure centered around two main characters, Yasuke and Fujibayashi Naoe. The game was also well received, with former Eurogamer editor-in-chief Tom Phillips calling it “majestic in scale, impressive in detail”. its a four star review.
As for the Switch 2 version, Ubisoft latest blog post confirms that it will include all updates released to date for Assassin's Creed Shadows, with the exception of the Claws of Awaji expansion, which is due out in 2026. The company also notes that future Switch 2 updates will be consistent across other platforms, and will also be working on console-specific improvements, with talk of optimization patches as well as keyboard and mouse compatibility when docked.
Want to know what else you can expect from Switch 2? Ubisoft is targeting a “consistent 30fps” in both docked and handheld modes, saying it has done “a lot of work at the code level… to optimize and adapt the game's architecture.” This, he adds, allowed “certain technical aspects of quality to be optimized without compromising the player experience or the richness of the game.”
Elsewhere, it talks about Switch 2's ray-traced global illumination support in favor of baked global illumination “largely for RAM reasons”, while level of detail, draw distances, texture resolution and element loading have been “carefully adjusted” to maintain performance. Switch 2 will also feature fewer NPCs in densely populated areas to “ensure smooth gameplay,” although Ubisoft believes the richness of the environment “remains largely untouched.” There is also DLSS support for a “smoother” experience.
In terms of compromises in handheld mode, “adjustments to image quality, draw distance, and LOD settings” have been made to accommodate GPU limitations. However, variable refresh rates appear, as does HDR.
If you need Switch 2-specific features, there's touchscreen navigation when interacting with maps and menus. Additionally, cross-progression is supported through Ubisoft Connect, meaning you can seamlessly switch between platforms if you were playing (or planning to play) Shadows elsewhere. As a reminder, Assassin's Creed Shadows will be released on Switch 2 next Tuesday, December 2nd.
