While many anticipated Elden Ring to be one of the best-reviewed games of the year, even the most die-hard fans probably didn’t expect the critical reception it received. Elden Ring is currently one of the highest-rated games of all time on Metacritic, matching the likes of Super Mario Galaxy, Red Dead Redemption 2, Grand Theft Auto 5, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.Some users had shared concerns regarding Elden Ring’s performance on consoles during the closed network test in November. However, many believed that developer From Software would iron out these frame rate issues upon release. From Software has now released patch 1.02 for Elden Ring, but it seems like this update doesn’t make a big difference in the game’s performance.The PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of Elden Ring come with two graphical options, one prioritizes quality and the other prioritizes frame rate. Unfortunately, according to Digital Foundry, none of these modes run Elden Ring at 60 FPS on either machine. The performance is highly unstable, with quality mode having a range of 30-60 FPS and frame rate mode ending up in the 45-60 FPS range. Digital Foundry also confirms that Elden Ring rarely ever runs at 60 FPS on both PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Furthermore, the quality mode is not locked at 30 FPS, resulting in an uneven gameplay experience. Digital Foundry reported these issues in its analysis of Elden Ring’s performance during the closed network test but not much has changed since then. However, it also shares some methods fans can use to get more stable performance.
Both Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S have support for VRR, which should help in reducing the perceived judder, although it is only applicable to users with a capable display. Sony has not released support for VRR for PS5, but fans can play the PS4 version of Elden Ring to hit 60 FPS. The PS4 version runs at a lower resolution and also has reduced grass density when compared to the PS5 version, but the frame rate is much smoother.
Finally, Digital Foundry states that the PC version of Elden Ring has several stuttering issues and suggests waiting for further patches. From Software’s games are perhaps infamous for their performance issues, and it’s disappointing to see that Elden Ring is no different. While there are ways to bypass these problems, there is no ideal solution, other than waiting for From Software to release more updates.
Elden Ring launches February 25 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
