Experts from Digital Foundry have released a detailed technical breakdown of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 for the Nintendo Switch 2 console. The specialists checked how successfully Nintendo's new handheld system handles the large-scale shooter and whether it can compete with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Graphics and Resolution Modes
The developers managed to port key features of the COD Engine to Switch 2, including updated global illumination, dynamic interactive smoke, and high NPC density in urban scenes:
- Docked: dynamic resolution targets 900p using DLSS (with possible drops down to 450p in heavy scenes) or a native SMAA mode up to 1080p.
- Handheld mode: dynamic 720p with drops down to 360p under heavy loads.
- DLSS vs. SMAA: the DLSS upscaler handles thin lines and transparent surfaces significantly better, eliminating noise and shimmering from the image.
Campaign, Multiplayer, and DMZ Performance
The story campaign is locked at 30 fps and demonstrates very stable performance with virtually no drops. The DMZ extraction mode supports running at 40 fps on 120 Hz displays.
Competitive multiplayer targets 60 fps and supports crossplay with other consoles. In most cases, the frame rate stays close to the target mark, although drops to 45–55 fps occur during intense firefights, which are partially smoothed out thanks to VRR.
The Main Issue — Input Lag
The biggest drawback of the port turned out to be noticeable input lag. While input lag on PS5 is around 49 ms at 60 Hz, on Switch 2 it reaches 81 ms docked, and ranges from 83 to 125 ms in handheld mode (averaging around 100 ms). This could be a significant downside for players in competitive crossplay multiplayer.
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