Image via FromSoftware / Elden Ring

‘Elden Ring’ runs best on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 — PC has stuttering issues

'Elden Ring' suffers from performance issues across the board, though these are apparently more jarring on PC.

Jonathan Wright

Published: Feb 25, 2022 11:50 am

By now, most of you must be physically itching to dive into Hidetaka Miyazaki’s Elden Ring, but alas, it seems that the game’s numerous technical issues – especially on PC – are presenting folks with a none too smooth experience across the board.

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While most media outlets are still busy singing the praises of Elden Ring and hyping up this interactive adventure in the fictional Lands Between, Digital Foundry has released another performance report on FromSoftware’s latest title, underlining the performance on next-gen platforms and comparing it to PC and older consoles like PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

It seems that despite turning out to be one of the greatest games of all time, Elden Ring is a far cry from being a technically optimized title, even on next-gen consoles.

Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 expectedly come with two modes; performance and quality, both of which have uncapped frame rates. On performance, the game targets anything between 45fps to 60fps, but never hits a consistent 60fps. The same is also true for quality, though the low minimum there will be 30fps.

The PC port is also suffering from quite a few technical issues. For one thing, there’s the constant stuttering on all visual presets, regardless of your hardware. And for another, FromSoftware’s use of DirectX 12 API makes these frame-time issues even more jarring. Steam users have also been reporting mid-game crashes, which has led to a ton of mixed reviews on the platform despite the overwhelmingly positive critical reception.

Here are some of the things folks have been sharing on Twitter regarding the terrible PC port – which is frankly an insignia of developer FromSoftware by now:

do not buy elden ring on pc if you want to play it right now imo
the pc port is VERY bad and laggy, capped at 60 and drops to 10-20 frames maybe every 5 seconds during bossfights, (ON LOWEST SETTINGS) will eat inputs and get you killed constantly.
Just current first impression.
— TSM Leffen (@TSM_Leffen) February 25, 2022

Played some Elden Ring on PC with the Day 1 patch. Performance issues are not entirely resolved for me. Still seeing stutters & bizarre slowdowns a bit too frequently. This has to be top priority. A game with so little room for player error can't afford to contribute to error.
— Yong Yea (@YongYea) February 24, 2022

PC Elden Ring: I have a 5950x and a 3090. Tried all settings. Even at 1080p lowest settings I bounce between 20 fps and 60 fps on first boss. Not an enjoyable experience. Can't speak to rest of game, doubt a secluded issue. Get console version, avoid PC version. Waste of 2 hours.
— DarkViperAU (@DarkViperAU) February 25, 2022

I’ve been reading about other players’ Elden Ring PC performance experiences and it’s such a bummer that so many people are having issues.

It’s weird though how much of a mixed bag it is. Some people, like myself, have almost no issues. Either way, super disappointing.
— Iron Pineapple (@IronPineapple_) February 25, 2022

My review for Elden Ring will becoming later this week. This is because PC performance was so poor that partly through my review I had to switch to the PS5 version of the game. And I have a 3080 with 32GB of RAM. So expect a report on performances of both versions of the game.
— Kazuma Hashimoto (@JusticeKazzy_) February 23, 2022

FromSoftware released a statement today regarding all the technical issues via a blog post, apologizing to fans for “any inconvenience this may cause” and promising that they’ll be “constantly working to improve the game so that it can be played comfortably on various PC environments and platforms.”

The constant frame drop and stuttering can be a real deal-breaker for some folks, exacerbated by the nonsensical decision to uncap the FPS on next-gen consoles. Luckily, there are workarounds for each version of the game, at least on the consoles.

For Series X, Microsoft’s VRR (variable refresh rate) will greatly improve stability if you’ve got displays that support this feature. PlayStation 5 doesn’t have a built-in VRR, unfortunately, but you can still play the game through the PS4 app which pumps out 60fps without breaking a sweat, though at the obvious cost of losing visual fidelity and graphical features.

As things stand, Series X or PlayStation 5 are probably your best choice to play Elden Ring if you have access to either one. But beyond that, we’re really hoping the developer will address some of these issues as soon as possible with a few hot fixes.

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Author

Jonathan Wright

Jonathan is a religious consumer of movies, TV shows, video games, and speculative fiction. And when he isn't doing that, he likes to write about them. He can get particularly worked up when talking about 'The Lord of the Rings' or 'A Song of Ice and Fire' or any work of high fantasy, come to think of it.