Rayman Legends Brings 60FPS Ray‑Tracing to Switch 2, Equals Xbox S

Although Rayman Legends was first unveiled at PlayStation’s State of Play on June 2, the game’s legacy dates back to its 2013 debut as a Wii U exclusive.

“When we began the project two years ago, our focus was on the flagship platforms—PS5 and PS5 Pro,” said Montpellier’s technical advisor Fabien Delpiano to VGC. “The vision for Retold was to serve as a visual showcase of what we can achieve with the Rayman brand.”

Having already re‑released Legends on Switch in 2017, the team recognized that the new remake’s demanding graphics would exceed the aging hardware’s capabilities. However, once Ubisoft learned of the forthcoming Switch 2, the decision was clear: Rayman Legends deserved a return to its Nintendo roots.

Delpiano added, “We heard about Switch 2 a bit before its official announcement, but it was after we had already started work on Rayman Legends: Retold. We realized that Rayman simply cannot skip a Nintendo console!”

Retold transforms the classic 2‑D side‑scroller into a fully curved, 3‑D platformer, adding fresh detail, new stages, and fully voiced cutscenes that push the PS5 to its limits.

Delpiano revealed that the team initially feared the ambitious Retold would struggle on the Switch 2. Fortunately, Ubisoft’s Berlin studio, RedLynx, was already developing a Switch 2 port for Star Wars Outlaws, giving the project a head start.

“The German team was already familiar with Switch 2 and had begun work on the Star Wars Outlaws port, so they were far ahead of us,” Delpiano explained. “Our assets, characters, and the level of detail we’re aiming for would be hard to fit onto Switch 2. That’s why we reached out to them early, since we’re using the same engine and their port is excellent. We’ve been collaborating with them for the past year.”

Running on the Ubisoft Snow Drop engine—designed for expansive open worlds—the team had to adapt the platform to meet Switch 2’s visual standards.

Delpiano described a new level‑of‑detail system that adjusts detail based on character size rather than distance, ensuring that the Switch 2 version matches the PS5’s visual richness.

According to Delpiano, the Switch 2 version of Outlaws will maintain a consistent 60 frames per second (FPS) performance, even with four players simultaneously engaging in local multiplayer. The developer is committed to delivering this smooth gameplay experience across all platforms, from the most basic – Switch 2 – to high-end systems like the PS5 Pro and powerful PCs.

Delpiano also mentioned that the level of detail in Outlaws on Switch 2 will adapt based on the size of the character on screen, ensuring a balance between visual fidelity and performance. The level of detail on Switch 2 is expected to be roughly equivalent to that on the PS5.

One of the significant challenges for Montpellier was implementing ray tracing on the Switch 2. Despite the costly nature of this graphical technique, the team has worked diligently to ensure that Switch 2 players can enjoy the dazzling lighting effects associated with ray tracing. The goal is to achieve a smooth 60 FPS performance across all platforms, which required pushing the limits of the Snow Drop engine from its original 30 FPS cap.

When I finally got my hands on the Switch 2, the handheld mode proved that the developers have truly nailed the platform’s capabilities. The game runs at a steady 60 fps, and after comparing it to a recent playthrough on a high‑end PC, I was struck by how little visual fidelity was sacrificed in the Switch 2 build.

Delpiano explained that one key technique was to lower the resolution, noting that “the GPU’s workload is heavily tied to resolution, so reducing it makes the game far less demanding.”

Nintendo fans will not be left with a 480 p Rayman in Retold. Thanks to the Switch 2’s DLSS technology, Ubisoft guarantees a 1080 p handheld experience and a full 4K output when docked.

Delpiano added that “DLSS is working quite well. When docked, we can push to full 4K because power constraints are relaxed, so we can go a bit higher. Essentially, on Switch 2, we are quite on par with the Xbox Series S in terms of quality.”