Elden Ring reportedly "drops to 15 FPS" on Switch 2 in handheld mode

It has been reported by Gamescom attendees that despite the impressive feat of porting FromSoftware’s Elden Ring to the Nintendo Switch 2, the game unsurprisingly struggles to run smoothly.

The details:

• Elden Ring was confirmed for Switch 2 during the console’s full reveal, marking yet another major third-party release coming to the system later this year. The port, dubbed the “Tarnished Edition,” will feature the full base game and the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, as well as a new armor set and customization options for Torrent.
• However, some fans were skeptical about how the open-world RPG would perform on the handheld, especially given its impressive visuals. It appears that the skepticism was warranted, as Gamescom attendees have shared that the game struggles to run smoothly in both docked and handheld mode, with IGN branding the port a "disaster" as its frame rate can drop to as low as 15 FPS.
• According to Nintendo Life’s Felix Sanchez, the game is still graphically impressive but fails to hit its max frame rate of 30 FPS in handheld mode when traversing the open world or during boss fights. Its performance when the console is docked is also not great but is an improvement over the state of the game in handheld mode.
• Understandably, fans aren’t happy about the news but are far from surprised, noting that optimization has never been FromSoftware’s strong suit. However, the poor performance has an effect on the core gameplay, with one attendee stating that a lag spike led to a failed dodge, resulting in them being hit by an enemy. “The textures looked bad, and while the demo only let you play until the tutorial area, the game lagged heavily during the supposed to die boss fight,” Reddit user yayakon wrote. “Right when I prepared to dodge roll, the game lagged, and suddenly I got hit.”

More gaming news:

• Former Diablo boss Rod Fergusson has joined 2K in an executive role overseeing the BioShock franchise as layoffs hit BioShock 4 developer Cloud Chamber.
• Sony has announced yet another price increase for the PS5, this time affecting the US.