Digital Foundry has published a technical review of Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition on the Switch 2, assessing how both the main story and the Phantom Liberty expansion run on Nintendo’s latest console.
The inclusion of the Phantom Liberty expansion on Switch 2 is notable, given that developer CD Projekt Red bypassed older consoles like PS4 and Xbox One, focusing on current-generation hardware. While the Switch 2 manages to support the expansion, it also poses the greatest challenge for the hardware.
The game offers four visual modes: 30fps quality and 40fps performance, each with docked and handheld variants. Resolution ranges for these modes are:
- Handheld Performance: 640×360 to 1280×720
- Handheld Quality: 800×450 to 1440×810
- Docked Performance: 960×540 to 1920×1080
- Docked Quality: 1280×720 to 1920×1080
DLSS technology is used to enhance visuals, though fast-paced action can introduce some blurriness and temporal noise. Despite resolution differences, visual quality between docked and handheld modes is largely consistent.
Compared to other consoles, Switch 2 matches PS5 in texture quality, surpassing Xbox Series X and PS4. Many textures remain consistent across platforms, but where variance exists, Switch 2 performs strongly. DLSS further improves its image clarity relative to PS4.
However, pedestrian and vehicle density on Switch 2 resembles that of the PS4, resulting in quieter city streets. This reduction helps maintain frame rate stability. Indoor shadows are of higher quality than on PS4, but outdoor shadows are slightly inferior.
Frame rates hold steady at 30fps in quality mode during the main story but can drop to 20-25fps in the more complex Phantom Liberty expansion. In 40fps performance mode, indoor scenes generally maintain around 40fps, but outdoor and action-heavy sections can dip below 30fps.
Handheld frame rates appear similar to docked performance, although testing was limited. Variable refresh rate (VRR) support contributes to smoother portable gameplay, though frame drops below 30fps are more apparent in this mode.