Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 has noticeably worse input lag than on PS5, which could put Nintendo players at a disadvantage in multiplayer.
Digital Foundry’s tech review measured multiplayer latency at 81ms when docked and an average of 100ms in portable mode, against 49ms on PS5. Testing used wireless controllers on both consoles (a Switch 2 Pro Controller and a DualSense), and portable results ranged from 83ms at best to 125ms at worst.
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 – Official ‘From Launch to Live’: From the Ward Ep. 8.Watch on YouTube
Digital Foundry said “responsiveness here simply isn’t as good as on other consoles”, and described the lag in portable mode as “actually deleterious to performance” (thanks, IGN).
Beyond the lag, Digital Foundry is fairly positive about the port. Multiplayer runs at 60fps most of the time, and if your TV supports VRR, you’ll notice the drops less. The campaign is capped at 30fps and resolution is dynamic.
Docked with DLSS on, the game targets 900p, but Digital Foundry saw it drop to 450p in busier scenes, such as the Paris vehicle chase. In portable mode, the target is 720p, with drops to 360p.
It’s been 13 years since a Call of Duty game last appeared on Nintendo hardware, with Ghosts on Wii U in 2013. The series’ return is the result of a 10-year deal Microsoft offered Nintendo while it sought regulatory approval for its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Yesterday we reported that Activision has apologised to the bereaved families of the Itaewon crowd crush victims and confirmed it will remove real footage of the tragedy from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.