Gamescom attendees are reportedly extremely unimpressed with the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Elden Ring, citing severe performance issues that are causing the critically acclaimed title to dip as low as 15 FPS during certain sections. Outside of a 2025 launch window, there's currently no confirmed release date for Elden Ring on Nintendo Switch 2, which means these issues could be rectified by launch. But, as it currently stands, it sounds like the title is practically unplayable in handheld mode.
The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Elden Ring, known as the Tarnished Edition, was announced back in April during a Nintendo Direct for the Switch 2. While this special edition will be exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2, all of its new content, such as armor, weapons, and customization options, will also be coming to other platforms. Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition also comes with the critically acclaimed Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, which launched back in 2024 and once again received massive amounts of praise from the community.
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Elden Ring on Switch 2 Supposedly Dips to Just 15 FPS
After some big announcements during Gamescom Opening Night Live, the yearly gaming event is officially in full swing in Cologne, Germany. The event allows fans, journalists, and content creators to go hands-on with some highly anticipated games, including some currently unreleased Nintendo Switch 2 titles, such as Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition. Unfortunately, a recent report from NintendoLife's Felix Sanchez claims that the performance of Elden Ring on the Nintendo Switch 2 is pretty abysmal. " It’s really bad, and I understand why they don’t want you to see this, because wowie zowie, it is terrible,” the journalist said in a recent video (via Kotaku).
Sanches goes on to claim that Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition seems to dip as low as 15 FPS in some sections. "Of course, you’re never going to see the light of this—maybe it will just release in that state, but I can’t imagine they will do that—It was like playing Ocarina of Time. It was like 20 frames per second, sometimes I was like, ‘This has dropped [to] 15 frames per second.'" The current state of Elden Ring on the Nintendo Switch 2 appears to be so bad that Bandai Namco has prevented Gamescom attendees from recording footage of the game.
While the title seems to be in a pretty poor state in its current build, there is a good chance that it will be rectified by the time it launches. There's no release date as of yet, but a recent ESRB rating did provide fans with an encouraging update for Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition. Bandai Namco says it's aiming to ship the Nintendo Switch 2 version in 2025, and a recent M rating from the ESRB suggests that its release is getting closer and closer. Which isn't exactly surprising, considering we're now in the latter half of 2025.
FromSoftware is one of the most beloved studios in the gaming industry right now, so it would come as a great surprise to many if it launched Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition in such a poor state. But with the studio also hard at work on The Duskbloods, an exclusive Nintendo Switch 2 title that is coming in 2026, as well as the recent launch of Elden Ring Nightreign, it's possible that FromSoftware could be spreading itself too thin.
Elden Ring
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 95 /100 Critics Rec: 98%
- Released
- February 25, 2022
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Publisher(s)
- Bandai Namco Entertainment, From Software
