Hello everyone,

Assassin's Creed Shadows comes to Nintendo Switch™ 2 on December 2nd, and we couldn't be more excited to bring Naoe and Yasuke's journey in feudal Japan to wherever you like to play, whether that's on TV or on the go.

All title updates released to date will be available at launch on Nintendo Switch™ 2, with the exception of the Claws of Awaji expansion. This version supports cross-progression via Ubisoft Connect, ensuring you can continue your journey seamlessly across platforms.

Behind the scenes, bringing such a large and detailed open world - originally developed for current-gen home consoles - to Switch™ 2 required one of Ubisoft's most ambitious technical undertakings to date. The result is a seamless, high-fidelity experience, whether you're playing in handheld or docked mode.

To celebrate the upcoming release, we're joined by Technical Graphic Director, Yannick, and Project Lead Programmer, Bruno, to dive into the details of how the team ported our world of feudal Japan to this new console.

Inside the Technical Challenge

"Bringing Shadows to Switch™ 2 was one of the toughest but most rewarding challenges I have ever tackled," says Bruno. "We had to rethink almost everything, from the way the world is rendered to how systems interact, all while keeping the soul of the game intact."

The team's top priority was keeping the game visually stunning. Assassin's Creed Shadows was praised for its immersion and sense of scale, and players needed to feel that same

magic on Switch™ 2. But actually delivering that magic while keeping our framerate target of 30 FPS in both docked and handheld modes required a careful balancing act.

Adapting the systems

Assassin's Creed Shadows was originally designed for current-gen home consoles. A lot of code-level work has been done over the last few months to optimize and adapt the game architecture for the Switch™ 2. This includes modifying game assets to streamline certain technical aspects of the quality, without compromising the player's experience or the richness of the game.

"Behind the scenes, we've worked a lot to make the world run smoothly and remain visually stunning and dynamic," says Yannick.

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.

Additionally, while the Switch™ 2 supports ray-traced Global Illumination, we opted to use our solid baked Global Illumination system (which we also use for low-spec PC setups and Xbox Series S versions), mainly for RAM memory reasons. This approach lets us preserve the overall experience as much as possible.

Optimization

The team worked hard to preserve as much of the world's dynamism and richness as possible on Switch™ 2.

While some adaptations were necessary, the team focused on maintaining the essence of the experience and ensuring that players could enjoy the environment and gameplay in a portable format.

"We use a configuration system to adapt each parameter of the games and monitor both quality and performance," says Bruno. "That way, we can tune each parameter precisely and find the perfect balance we are looking for. One of the greatest strengths of Anvil, our game engine, is its high scalability, which allows us to adjust graphics and simulation settings without compromising the experience."

LOD (Level Of Detail), draw distances, texture resolution, and element loading were carefully adjusted to maintain performance without compromising the world's depth.

Environmental richness remains largely intact, though certain NPC counts were reduced in highly populated areas to ensure smooth gameplay.

Deep Learning Super Sampling

The team also used Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), a technology that leverages sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms to generate high-resolution visuals from lower-resolution images.

In the end, this results in a sharper image, with more accurate colors, improved textures, and fewer visual anomalies. Performance is also smoother, offering higher FPS through upscaling, better fluidity, and reduced latency.

Designed for both ways to play

The development team's goal was to deliver a stable 30 FPS experience in both docked and handheld modes.

Handheld mode is naturally more GPU-limited, so we've made some adjustments to image quality, draw distance, and LOD settings to ensure smooth performance.

While docked mode allows Shadows to shine with the Switch™ 2's full visual power, HDR support brings vivid colors even to the smaller screen. The team also leveraged the VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) on the handheld screen to give a smoother gameplay feeling to players.

"The lower framerate limit for VRR is typically 40 FPS, but Assassin's Creed Shadows runs at 30 FPS on Switch™ 2," Bruno explains. "We didn't want to compromise on that aspect, and so we built a dedicated algorithm that keeps VRR enabled even at 30 FPS, keeping the game as fluid and responsive as possible!"

Switch™-specific features

The Nintendo Switch™ 2 system version of Assassin's Creed Shadows brings fresh and dynamic ways to dive into the game. Touch screen navigation makes interacting with menus, maps, and the hideout more intuitive than ever.

As a reminder, the Nintendo Switch™ 2 system version of Assassin's Creed Shadows includes almost all post-launch content at its release. The Claws of Awaji expansion will be available at a later date in 2026.

Upcoming updates will continue to align with other platforms, ensuring Switch™ 2 players receive the same level of follow-up and support. Additional improvements are also planned, including ongoing optimization patches and future keyboard and mouse compatibility when docked.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is also available on PS5®, Xbox Series X|S, Amazon Luna, Macs with Apple silicon via the Mac App Store, PC through the Ubisoft Store and the Epic Games Store, and as part of a Ubisoft+ Premium subscription.