Video: Skyrim Still Isn't 60fps On Switch 2, But Here's How It Fares Against Switch 1

What on earth is their excuse for 30fps?

Not only is it 30fps, it's got even more input lag than the Switch 1 version. I don't understand how they ***** up this bad.

…how is it not 60fps? At this point there is zero excuse.

An almost 15 year old game not running at 60fps is a joke.

What a complete waste. These changes are meaningless to me without the fps boost. No HDR either, why? The other console versions have it.

At least the menus look nice, too bad they are tied to 30 fps

Cyberpunk pulled off amazing gameplay and graphics on a not very old game. Kind of sad Skyrim couldn't have a better showing, lazy devs looking for a few bucks without making real efforts to optimize. Come on.

Anyone paying this much for this game has lost it. Games this old are supposed to be under 10 bucks.

There have been a noticeable number of poor performing ports on Switch 2 already

There gets to a point where the "it's the devs" line becomes trite and obviously not the only issue in play by a long shot

Not very auspicious considering it's only the start of it's lifetime

Nintendo has been saying that development on Switch 2 is similar to Switch 1 but easier and "more pc like" that should help ports...

So its a little bit brighter...? For £62? I'm almost speechless

@OmnitronVariant Didn't the FO4 relaunch last month also bork a bunch of stuff? Seems to be Bethesda's MO on these updates.

Not updating the FPS here is an... interesting decision. Would love to know if there are further updates planned, or if they're moving on.

@tanaka2687 for free if you have the original anni edition

Looks worse. Also no 60 fps or mods. Developer was right - joke of an upgrade

To my eyes it looks way better on Switch 2. Seems a bit of a shame you have to have the anniversary edition to be able to upgrade though - I don't know much about Skyrim but from what I understand that edition just adds a bunch of mod-based content, and I can't see why that would be a prerequisite for the visual upgrades of the Switch 2 edition.

@Doomcrow tbf I think the mods is more of a nintendo issue and the graphics definitely are better than the s1 but the lack of 60fps is a joke.

How about comparing upgraded vs non-upgraded both running on Switch 2?

Still 30fps? That's terrible.

I guess Fallout 4 will be 30fps on Switch 2 also.

I'll stick with my vanilla Switch 1 version and play Skyrim on my Steam Deck OLED for my portable fix.

Off topic, but to the staff; Are y'all gonna report on how the Switch RPG Brave X Junction is getting banned in multiple countries? (Including how it got its American release blocked not too long ago?)

Well i will take it for free but no 60fps is crazy!

@Theamazing1

Mods ARE possible in Switch games, Doom 1+2 prooved it. They have to be shipped with the game and not be DLCs though, as they can drastically change the game code.

Not having an unlocked framerate is a crime.

Well, at least it looks a lot better. 60fps would have been great but better resolution, better textures, improved lighting and better draw distance for foliage are very nice things anyway.

@Glasso glances at Star Wars Outlaws, Cyberpunk, No Man’s Sky, Red Dead Redemption and other good S2 ports that have been made

Yeah, no. It’s the devs who are dropping the ball, sorry.

maybe it's because I watched the comparison on a phone but what is the difference?

@Res462 It just broke mods, but that's to be expected.

This actually adds severe input latency where the original Switch 1 version doesn't have it. I just double checked, testing them side by side. Switch 2 version is objectively broken on this front and awful to play.

It worries me that on a brand new system there are already so many games that are not running as you would expect them to…

Bethesda doing whatever they can to keep the meme alive.

@user0 Laziness. In fairness Skyrim is clunky AF so you wouldn't notice it as much as a game with a smooth engine.

Yeah this does look like a poor port.

The only reason I’m holding on to my Xbox is for Skyrim/Fallout/Starfield at 60fps/4K.

One reason old Nintendo games hold up so well is because they’re 60fps.

@ottoecamn, how did I not know about this game and its cancelation. Apparently it was canceled a few weeks ago?! 🤯 It is still available on Playstation and (somehow, even with that Visa and Mastercard debacle) on Steam though.

What's funny is that the game is only rated Teen. For fantasy violence, mild blood, and suggestive themes (I checked it on the PS Store on the PS app). Yet they allow Cyberpunk 2077 on the Switch 2. Ridiculous.

Thanks for continuing to watch for stuff like this. You are a national treasure (at least in my eyes).

@user0 Likely battery life.

I wish companies would embrace 45fps. Its a power saver still and better than 30fps vastly. Its always 30 or 60 with developers.

@Nep-Nep-Freak somebody has to really. I bought the japanese version of the game on the shop along with Corpse Party (both have english text), and it's a perfectly inoffensive little RPG with blackjack mechanics. Yet Nintendo of America saw fit to step in and block its release and its really upsetting most Nintendo news sites aren't covering. Now it just got canceled in other regions.

I wonder if it still crashes every 15 minutes like the old switch 1 version did on my switch 2.

Hilarious that they couldn’t even be bothered boosting res past 1080p and 30fps even with DLSS.

I’ve watched the video - I can’t see any difference. As if anyone would pay for this

@Glasso

In this case, I would blame the dev. This is Bethesda we are talking about. The last couple of years their updates have been BRUTAL across all platforms, just look at what happened with fallout 4.

The switch 1 version played on Switch 2 of already benefited from improving/locking the framerate at 30 and greatly improving load times without any update. This adds mouse controls, bumps the res to 1080p and maybe better lighting and anti aliasing? It seemslike input lag has also been added to the Switch 2 version and the file size is huge.

This is typical half assed Bethesda *****.

@OmnitronVariant wait is this a joke? Does the game have input lag in switch 2? If so they know where they can introduce it tho.

Who cares about this ***** game anymore. We have two open world Zelda games that blow this thing out of the water anyway.

This wasn't 60 FPS on PS4 Pro...what makes anyone think this would have been 60 on NS2?

Wow, I’m glad this is free for people who already own the Switch 1 version. I mean…it’s a LITTLE better…

@IronMan30 There's no excuse for the PS4 Pro to not run at 60 either...THIS IS A PS3 GAME, REMEMBER???

If TOTK can run at 60 fps, there's no excuse for a game from 2011 to not run at 60fps.

@IronMan30

My Asus G53 laptop with a 2nd gen I7 intel CPU and 460m (Fermi) could run Skyrim above 60fps at 720p in 2011...

60fps should be more than feasible on the Switch 2. Even if not locked to 60, it can do it. They just didnt remove the vsync.

@Olrun Very much so. And it wasn’t there on Switch 1, I just compared side by side.

Guys......the re release on other consoles was also at 30 fps....Everyone expects this thing to be as powerful as the xbox x

@IronMan30 just another reason for people to complain. No one can be happy anymore

@TerribleTerabytes oh, I didn't mean to make excuses for it, just saying people shouldn't expect a ton of effort from Bugthesda even if I generally enjoy their games.

@AZYotes5013 All consoles "below" Series S got 30fps?

@ThisGuy215 Good point. What about docked though?

The input lag makes the Switch 2 version near unplayable right now. Wait until this is fixed before buying if you don’t already own the anniversary edition. Docked and Undocked.

This runs at 1080p 60fps docked on the Steam Deck, there’s no excuse why the SW2 can’t do it considering it has more then enough horsepower.

Not that Skyrim is a game that needs 60fps. And the HDR / higher res textures look a LOT better on Switch 2.

It looks great, it plays great, and it's free (if you have the Switch version).

How are Bethesda games so popular? I mean, really. Look, I've enjoyed Fallout games but, let's be honest: they look, play and run like utter arse and have more bugs than an insectarium. In fact, the only Bethesda (Game Studios) game I've played that felt good to play and ran at a decent and consistent framerate was Fallout 4, and that's only because I was running it on a PC with an i9 and a 4080 in it.

@IronMan30 Oh, my apologies, I didn't mean to insinuate that you yourself were making excuses, I was strictly referring to the facts. Just got a little too heated. Sorry!

Maybe ask Bethesda why the Switch 2 Anniversary Edition is 53GB in size, while its only 15-17GB on other platforms?!

That is some serious discrepancy.

Yeah input lag is atrocious. I instantly had to check I had game mode enabled on TV as thought I was going mad. Handheld also just as bad. Mouse controls felt a lot snappier tho, which is strange

@ShadLink @pspooky Skyrim doesnt support HDR natively. but most current platforms will allow HDR tonemapping. Xbox calls it AutoHDR.. On Switch 2, it's just a settings toggle: "Use HDR on ALL software"/"None"/"Only software that supports it".

The fact its not 60fps despite being 13 years old is freaking ridiculous. The Switch 2 is more then capable of running it at 60fps.

"I fart" in danish means "in motion". In english it means "letting out a wind". So maybe the headline for this article should have been "Video: Skyrim Still Isn't 60fps On Switch 2, But Here's How It Farts Against Switch 1". Especially when the sub headline is "Must have been the wind" and the article is covering something in motion (a video). Where the "wind" really comes in beats me though, but maybe someone has a suggestion.
Just my 2 cents.

@Wewewi Ah yes, didn't know that. (I have it on always enable) But still it does look good on Skyrim.

@AussieMcBucket Same thing

I thought Nintendo players didn’t care about resolutions or framerates?

Red Dead Redemption remastered from Rockstar Games did masterpiece job with 60fps for Nintendo Switch 2, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition from CD Projekt did masterpiece job with 40fps for Nintendo Switch 2. Tomb Raider:Definitive Edition runs 60fps on Nintendo Switch 2 even though it's port version not remastered version but still beautifully looking though. Bethesda just big excuse and dump game on Nintendo Switch 2 without testing stuffs if any problem etc with no 60fps too that very bad ass Bethesda. Disappointment with Bethesda. Hopefully Bethesda bring update patch to upgrade it to 60fps and improve stuffs with it.

Bethesda really doesn't deserve any revenue for this, it's not a joke as the devs said, it's a shameless, effortless cash grab.

@ThisGuy215 Well I mean, if it's docked, they could increase the output, right? They wouldn't have to worry about power. Everyone else does that. Is it the same here?

Still not 60 fps?? And worse input lag than Switch 1?? How is that last bit even possible?

Every game on Switch 2 has extremely reduced input lag vs the Switch. This is inexcusable.

@Hwatt I played Skyrim on an Asus G73!

And yeah, it ran a lot better, AND ran mods!

@ButterySmooth30FPS Do you work at Bethesday? lol

@AussieMcBucket I believe they have to make sure the experience you get on docked mode is the same as handheld mode. So if its 30fps handheld, its 30fps docked.

The Switch 1 version honestly looks better imho.

@ThisGuy215 Hmm, is that the case with all releases? 🤔 Certainly not with resolution. But is it with fps?

@Lone_Beagle

My guy - I miss those jet laptops I didn’t think I would be here, 14 years later, discussing if a modern console could run skyrim above 30fps…

Glad I play on PC and Switch…

@ThisGuy215 I think it is because TV's have 60 or 120 refresh rates. You can't divide that by 45 so you get inconsistent frame rates, something like that.

I dont care at all about 60fps, makes no difference to me in how it plays. Ill take a stable 30 and a better appearance/resolution/textures anyday of the week.

As for this particular release, ill have to pass. I bought the og on switch(as well as numerous other editions on various platforms) and have never gotten more than 10 hours in. If Im going to play it, itll be on my xbox ally x via the pc anniversary edition on gamepass.

Nice that they have it on s2 now though.

@ButterySmooth30FPS 30 would be fine if this version didn't add severe input lag. It's awful.

@HingryHuppo I have to say I agree. The color seems off in the s2 video, always too dark or too light, details seem to get washed out or hidden as a result, resulting in a poorer quality shot.

@dskatter I was honestly pretty disappointed with the NMS S2 port as far as any visual or stability improvements, minus the obvious improvement of online inclusion.

However, i did not previously play the switch 1 version and instead had played the series x version. i wasn’t expecting S2 version to be close to the series x, but it performs terribly for me.

Did anyone play NMS switch 1 and can attest that the S2 version looks better at all? Would be happy to be wrong.

@Max_the_German doom 1 and 2 don't prove it like you said those were shipped with the game so although they are mods they have been authored by bethesda meaning they are part of the base game and not mods anymore where as the mod browser is completely missing as nintendo don't allow mods.

Skyrim may be a 2011 game but it is held together with tape and tinfoil, the engine is absolute garbage, only way for this game to impress in 2025 is to get a remake. This is just lipstick on a pig.

Pathetic. What a joke.

Too busy playing prime 4 at 120fps to care!

@daycamp The difference is night and day. You can find many comparison videos showing just how improved it is.

I'm sick and tired of these lazy rush jobs, how tf is this still 30fps???? First Persona 3 Reload and now a game that's more than a decade old??? Absolutely no excuse can justify this

Release a console you marketed as 10 times more powerful than its predecessor and still can’t hit 60 on a game developers over a decade ago.

At first I was angry that I passed up the $16 digital copy of Skyrim during the sale, just for this to get announced shortly after. Now I'm happy I gave it a pass! Back to my digital copy that runs 60 fps on Series S.

Bethesda being Bethesda I guess, as others have said, the console has more than enough power, they just haven't put in the optimization effort.

Thankfully for me I've had the game in all it's forms on PC for years so it doesn't affect me, but for those wanting a Switch version, it sucks it's not better.

I honestly think it looks worse on Switch 2.

@Misima not when idiots keep rebuying them everytime it gets a rerelease on a new console

No 60fps is bizarre. It was the one thing I was looking forward to when it came to a Switch 2 version.

Oh yeah, let's sell the same game once more, for only $20 if they already bought the game, and as a brand new game for $60.. Skyrim is 14 years old btw.. You shouldn't expect anything great coming from Bethesda these days, everytime they release something they spit on the face of the players. Recently on PC, Fallout 4 got an "anniversary" upgrade, basically just selling mods for a price while making all the others mods uncompatible and destroying your savefiles.. And they already did that with Skyrim in 2021. Yeah, thank you, spit more, I'm not covered in your filth entirely yet.

An appalling port.

Gotta love a crappy cash grab. I feel like we're gonna to be seeing a bunch of really low effort Switch 2 Editions over the coming years.

This is so pathetic

The game I have tried to like more times than I can count.

@Arkabed when my grandkids are on their deathbed they will be able to buy Skyrim 100th anniversary edition for 1000 dollars, at this rate.

Comment section on YT for your video is great lol

apparently the specs for the switch 2 version line up with the ps4 version of the game as well.

Can't wait for people to defend this lol

@DTfearTheBEARD I mean Fallout 4 is a PS4 era game so.. it wouldn't be shocking if it was 30 FPS on Switch 2.

@libersolis I think in a lot of cases like this, it is usually the developer. Bethesda is notorious for optimization issues on their games. Same with Fromsoftware with ER: Tarnished edition.

That being said CDPR managed a decent port of Cyberpunk and Ubisoft also managed to deliver Outlaws and Shadows in a decent standard.

@fersama In the case of Persona 3 Reload, it is using Unreal Engine iirc (which is usually pretty problematic) and the fact that it is a 9th gen game, it shouldn't be surprising if that game is 30 FPS on Switch 2 (which is essentially a 8.5 gen console which is a slightly more powerful than a PS4).

Skyrim tho? Yeah you're right. This should have been 60 but either the developer is too lazy to optimize it or it's an engine issue (Creation Engine is used for Skyrim and the upcoming Elder Scrolls 6) OR it's both.

@Theamazing1 Exactly! Nintendo doesn’t support mods which can be downloaded afterwards. They have to be parted of the shipped game code, and integral part of the game. As I said. And it is possible for Bethesda to do exactly that, selecting the most popular mods which still compatible with company’s vision of Skyrim, like id did. But Bethesda didn’t.

I loaded a few of my old save games and got around 15 fps in handheld mode. Just a note

@ThisGuy215 45fps? Sure 40fps on a 120hz screen looks great but 45fps is dreadful

@dskatter Hogwarts legacy runs and looks beautiful especially in handheld on S2. I read somewhere that the first (Non Anniversary) version had less input lag and less crashes than the later version?

do you expect a base console power in a portable device no so why are people complaining?

@Najlosiji hogwarts legacy switch 2 version was built from the ground up ..

@Dreamcaster-X much of the time its 60 on Steamdeck but it regularly drops into the 50's and in big cities it can easily drop into the 40's due to CPU and/or engine limitations. This would look bad on a TV with no VRR

@IronMan30 the PS4 Pro was running it at native 4K but the base PS4 does give us a clue with its unlocked fps mod that gets nowhere near hitting 60fps, hovering around the 40fps mark.

I don't think this is a case of them being "lazy", just the Switch 2 CPU coupled with that engine, means they couldn't hit a consistent 60fps

@carlos82 Doesn't excuse that they've added severe input lag over the Switch 1 version. I wouldn't mind 30 fps but increased fidelity, but the input lag makes the Switch 2 version unplayable.

@Max_the_German I see what your saying but where would you even start with that thought thes so many popular mods for skyrim plus they would have to test them to officially include them i suppose with the og doom games it doesn't take much becuase of their size and their probably guaranteed to run well.

Honestly, MS/Bethesda should not have bothered. It sets the 60fps crowd off like nobody's business.

This looks like how my old old old 10+ year old PC could run Skyrim, except it was heavily modded to have better textures, gameplay features, bug fixes, and could do 60fps. Bethesda is so lazy.

£52.99? Jeezo. This is insane.

@Misima and it'll still run at 30fps.

People who buy this "upgrade" deserve to get ripped off IMO

@Markatron84 I personally couldn't care about 60 fps, as long as it is pretty stable. 24fps locked is all I want.

Oh my, volumetric effects.. ambient occlusion... they're FINALLY on Switch! That November 2017 Switch version experience has finally been upgraded with what was missing... even if it doesn't run at 60fps.
I can see it might be because just of those effects, but it's still incredibly evident there is a lot of overhead to at least lower the resolution and/or unlock the framerate, just to see how much it can go to reach those higher bounds you can already get on something like even the Steam Deck.

They optimised Cyberpunk as much as possible and still it didn't sell that well in most markets. Personally I don't see the point of these old games on Switch 2 but commercially there just isn't the budget to optimise for Switch 2. Let's not forget the Switch 2 only has low CPU performance between that of PS4 and PS4 Pro. A passmark score of around 2000. The steam deck is 9000 for comparison. To get a fully optimised version of Skyrim would be quite an investment of time and resources and of course money. This is just a quick port with little optimisation because that is all that is commercially viable for the platform at this point. Skyrim on the original Switch I would say is a fully optimised version but Skyrim on Switch 2 is not. Lets not forget third party publishers have stated Switch 2 sales were below their worst expectations. I see so little value in these old games coming to Switch 2. You can play this on Steam Deck with 60fps and ultra settings using the latest upscaling software and you don't have to pay a penny extra you can run any of the earlier versions of Skyrim with mods etc. Just feels like a game best played on other platforms. If you don't have the anniversary version or skyrim at all the game is $60. I paid I think £6 for it for steam and made heavy use of mods for graphic enhancements, new levels and new features for no extra money. The value of this is terrible on Switch 2 but only a tiny minority of Switch 2 owners will buy it whether it is good or bad.

Ooooh it isn't 60fps WAAAAAH! Real gamers play for the games not the number counting. Quit being complaining b***h's and remember games are supposed to be fun not worrying about numbers and FPS. Oh wait, gamers nowadays hate games while calling themselves gamers

@anoyonmus Soooo about Persona 3 Reload... you were saying? Lmao

@fersama all I said was it shouldn’t be surprising if it was at 30 FPS. Never said it couldn’t run at 60.