Image: Ubisoft
PlayStation 5 Pro users will enjoy “extended ray tracing” in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Ubisoft has revealed the full swathe of performance modes for Assassin’s Creed Shadows on the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro. Both consoles will feature three performance modes for the open-world game, but only PS5 Pro users will have access to what the company refers to as “extended ray tracing.”
Sony has also published 20 minutes of new gameplay from Assassin’s Creed Shadows:
Assassin’s Creed Shadows lays out all PS5 and PS5 Pro performance modes
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is notably the first true next-gen game in the mainline franchise, seeing as it is not launching on previous console generations. The game will sport three performance modes on PlayStation consoles, as per the PlayStation Blog, but we don’t have details for its graphical options on the Xbox Series X|S just yet.
Here are the game’s performance modes on PS5:
- PS5 – Performance Mode: 2160p upscaled, 60 FPS, Selective Ray Tracing
- PS5 – Fidelity Mode: 2160p upscaled, 30 FPS, Standard Ray Tracing
- PS5 – Balanced Mode (requires 120/240hz display and HDMI 2.1): 2160p upscaled, 40 FPS, Standard Ray Tracing
The above options are pretty standard for PS5 games at this point, but the inclusion of a 40fps mode provides a happy compromise for players who want to play at a high resolution without being limited to just 30fps. The Performance Mode has Selective Ray Tracing, which allows the game to “compute global illumination for diffuse lighting in the Hideout portion of the game.” Standard Ray Tracing, on the other hand, allows for diffuse lighting “throughout the game world.”
Here are the game’s performance modes on PS5 Pro:
- PS5 Pro – Performance Mode: 2160p upscaled, 60 FPS, Standard Ray Tracing
- PS5 Pro – Fidelity Mode: 2160p upscaled, 30 FPS, Extended Ray Tracing
- PS5 Pro – Balanced Mode (requires 120/240hz display and HDMI 2.1): 2160p upscaled, 40 FPS, Extended Ray Tracing
The PS5 Pro provides some immediate upgrades, with even the base Performance Mode including Standard Ray Tracing. Interestingly, both Fidelity Mode and Balanced Mode include what Sony refers to as “Extended Ray Tracing.” According to the blog post, this involves “full support of ray tracing to compute global illumination for diffuse lighting and reflective surfaces throughout the game world.”
To illustrate the varying gameplay styles of Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ dual protagonists Naoe and Yasuke, the blog also posted up 20 minutes of new gameplay. This gameplay has Naoe and Yasuke infiltrate Nijo Palace in Kyoto, Japan, with a mix of stealth and combat-focused gameplay.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will launch on 20 March, 2025 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
