Consoles Specs & Tech Q&A

Hello everyone,  

After revealing more on  our PC specifications, we are happy to share more details on what possibilities are opening for our console players.  

We also went back to Pierre F, Technology Director on Assassin's Creed Shadows to answer more of the questions you asked on tech topics through multiple social platforms as well as the Ubisoft Creator Program.   

QUESTION 1

Wuckforld on Reddit: In terms of performance, do the PS5 and Xbox series X versions have a 60 fps mode? 

Pierre F: Yes! We're happy to confirm that the PS5 and Xbox Series X will both allow players to play at 60 FPS.   

Shadows does indeed support various performance profiles. On PS5 and Xbox Series X, we offer 3 modes:  

1. The performance mode will target 60 FPS, reducing the rendering resolution and adjusting graphical settings to reach a consistent 60 FPS. On both PS5 and Xbox Series X, this mode relies on our tried and tested baked global illumination technology.
   
   Furthermore, the increased raytracing capabilities of the PS5 Pro allow us to introduce our new raytraced global illumination technology at 60 FPS.

2. The quality mode will target 30 FPS, leading to a higher resolution as well as boosting several rendering systems. The pre-upscaling resolution is only one area where we leverage the increased GPU budget. Our raytraced global illumination technology is one key element that also distinguishes this mode, as well as improvements on draw distances, shadows, in-game hair quality, etc...
   
   Again, the PS5 Pro benefits from the more powerful GPU and raytracing capabilities by being the only mode on console that is offering raytraced reflections.  

3. The balanced mode, which does require a High Refresh Rate (120 Hz) compatible display, allows a 40 FPS target which combines both previous modes into one. The balanced mode basically uses the same configuration as the fidelity mode but the upscaler target's FPS is instead 40 FPS. In practice, this leads to a minor reduction in rendering resolution compared to the quality mode, but with all the other rendering system's configuration untouched. 

On Xbox Series S, the game provides an experience targeting 30 FPS. 

Finally, as you may have seen, Shadows introduces a fully customizable hideout. As the possibilities for the hideout aren't in any way pre-determined, we can't rely on our baked global illumination system. Thus, when the player enters the hideout, the game will automatically activate our raytraced global illumination system, no matter the console, and framerate will be adjusted accordingly. 

QUESTION 2

From Dark player: What PS5 Pro enhancements does AC Shadows offer/have? Will there be extra graphic modes available?

We received many questions on the PS5 Pro version. 

As detailed above, we use the same 3 graphics mode (performance, quality, balanced) but we opted to enhance each of them. We felt that we had the capability of catering to different player needs by providing for all the 3 modes a better experienced on PS5 Pro.  

The most notable improvements are:  

1. Performance mode uses Raytraced Global Illumination 

2. Quality and Balanced mode introduce Raytraced Reflections as well Global Illumination 

Assassin's Creed Shadows releases in just two weeks, on March 20, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, Ubisoft+ Premium, Amazon Luna, Macs with Apple silicon via the MacApp Store as well as Windows PC through the Ubisoft Store, Steam and the Epic Games Store. You can pre-order the game on all platforms. Players doing so will get access to the expansion "Claws of Awaji" for no extra cost.