As with almost every Nintendo console, Ubisoft has quickly become the number one AAA supporter of Nintendo Switch 2. Alongside the massively impressive port of Star Wars Outlaws for the system, the video game giant has also published a full port of Assassin’s Creed Shadows on the new handheld.
Speaking to FRVR about the massive challenges of porting Shadows to the Switch 2, developers working on the port confirmed that Ubisoft is working with Nintendo to “improve VRR support” on the handheld, not just for their own titles, but for every game.
As explained in a pre-release blog post for the Switch 2 port of AC Shadows, the port makes use of a clever workaround to trick the console’s VRR support into working below its 40Hz target. The team “build a dedicated algorithm that keeps VRR enabled at 30 FPS, keeping the game as gliud and responsive as possible,” the team said in the blog.
When asked about the technology and how it works, the developers confirmed that “both Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Star Wars: Outlaws use a similar technique to take advantage of Switch 2’s Variable Refresh Rate, even below 40Hz”.
“Since Shadows targets 30fps, and the console’s VRR currently only works at 40Hz or higher, we use a clever workaround,” they said. “The same frame is effectively presented twice, once in the middle of the frame and again at the end, so the hardware outputs at a 60Hz interval while maintaining smooth visuals”.
Ubisoft confirmed that this technology is now supported within the company’s Anvil Engine and will be used “for future titles”. While the team didn’t confirm if prior Assassin’s Creed games are coming to the system or if the very-leaked Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag Resynced remake will release on Switch 2, we should expect more Anvil Engine titles to be present on the handheld eventually.
Even more interestingly, the team confirmed that Ubisoft is “continuing to work with Nintendo to improve VRR support going forward”, teasing that the algorithm that gives Star Wars: Outlaws and Assassin’s Creed Shadows their fantastic fluidity may become more commonplace as the system’s software continues to evolve in the future.
VRR support on the Nintendo Switch 2 is great for smoothing out some unstable framerates, within reason, but Ubisoft has also proven that it can be used to make 30fps games feel even better on the handheld. Alongside Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Star Wars: Outlaws is one of the best-feeling games on Nintendo’s new device, despite the fact that it runs at just 30fps.
While Ubisoft themselves aren’t working on this, the team behind Assassin’s Creed Shadows also believes that the system’s Nvidia DLSS technology will also improve as it matures. The team confirmed that DLSS offered better results than its internal “Anvil TAAU (Temporal Anti-Alaising Upscaler) even when upscaling from lower resolutions” for AC Shadows, but explained that there’s “definitely room for improvement”.
All in all, it seems that the Nintendo Switch 2 and the host of talented developers working with the system have a lot of tricks up their sleeve, and we’re very excited to see how those tricks play out in future releases.
