Skyrim on Switch 2 finally gets 60fps — but it comes at a cost

Skyrim’s Switch 2 patch 1.2 delivers a real 60fps option – with trade-offs

This caught my attention because Skyrim on Switch 2 launched feeling like a technical compromise: impressive visuals, but floaty controls, weird frame pacing and some outright broken graphics. Patch 1.2 (Feb 2026) is Bethesda’s attempt to stop the bleeding: it adds a toggleable 60fps “Performance” mode and a locked 30fps “Visuals/Quality” mode, while fixing crashes, Joy‑Con mouse problems, jittery water SSR and miscolored trees. The result is the best way to play Skyrim on any Switch hardware so far – provided you accept the visual compromises required to hit 60fps.

• Performance mode: generally a much more stable 60fps thanks to aggressive resolution scaling, DLSS upscaling and lowered foliage/shadows.
• Visuals mode: locked 30fps, sharper image (higher native resolution) but higher input latency than Performance mode.
• Controls and bugs: significant latency reductions and fixes for Joy‑Con mouse and several visual glitches, but the 53GB install bloat remains.

Breaking down patch 1.2: what actually changed

Patch 1.2 reinstates a two‑mode approach that should have been there at launch. The Visuals mode mirrors the original launch settings: higher native resolution (reported around 1440p docked, then upscaled via DLSS) and a locked 30fps target. Performance mode targets 60fps by leaning heavily on a dynamic internal resolution (roughly 576p-1080p when docked), more aggressive DLSS upscaling and reduced foliage and shadow draw distances. Bethesda also patched a raft of stability and UI bugs: multiple crash fixes, localization corrections and a specific Joy‑Con mouse bug that made the game almost unplayable for some players.

Performance vs. Visuals – the real trade-offs

In practice, Performance mode hits 60fps in most dungeons and when roaming large swathes of the open world. The improvement over the oscillating 30-50fps of prior builds is immediately noticeable: camera tracking and combat feel far smoother, and input latency drops substantially (more on that below). But the cost is visible. Dynamic resolution frequently drops as low as ~576p under stress, and foliage/LOD reductions make distant hills and towns look noticeably barren compared to the Visuals mode. DLSS masks a lot of the pixel loss, but expect shimmer, softer textures and occasional artifacting when looking across wide vistas.

Portable play is harsher: the Switch 2 drops GPU clocks for handheld, so Performance mode can target as low as 720p (and in extreme cases 640×360), meaning a much softer image on the console’s own display. Visuals mode remains the sharper option for handheld but keeps the higher-latency 30fps behavior.

Controls and latency: the headline win

The most important practical change is that input latency is much improved. Launch measurements showed appalling numbers — roughly 293ms in some tests — which made movement and camera feel sluggish. Patch 1.2 reduces that: a jump-test timing fell to ~218ms and an analog-stick camera test to ~146ms in the Visuals (30fps) mode. More importantly, Performance mode at 60fps delivers the snappiest results: ~120ms for the jump test and ~74ms for the analog stick. Those are meaningful gains; on Performance mode Switch 2 is now in the neighborhood of other platforms for feel and responsiveness, making combat and traversal far more pleasant.

Remaining gripes and why this matters now

Patch 1.2 fixes a lot, but it doesn’t solve everything. The blockbuster install size (roughly 53GB on Switch 2, in part because all language packs are bundled) is unchanged. Some environmental hitching and region‑streaming stutters still pop up at 60fps — particularly in crowded towns or dramatic events like dragon attacks — and without a docked VRR fallback those drops are visible on a TV. And yes, the Performance mode’s visual pruning is obvious if you expect PS5-level fidelity.

This update arrives at a pointed time: two months after release and just before Bethesda’s Switch 2 port of Fallout 4. The lessons learned here — balancing DLSS upscaling, dynamic resolution and LOD trimming to preserve input feel — will be critical for that launch. For players, 1.2 makes Skyrim far more playable on Switch 2. Choose Performance mode if you value responsiveness and smoother combat; keep Visuals mode if you prefer a crisper image and can tolerate higher latency.

TL;DR

Patch 1.2 is the fix Skyrim needed on Switch 2: a mostly stable 60fps option with significantly lower input latency, plus a 30fps visuals mode for purists. It’s not a perfect miracle — expect softer images, occasional hitches and the same big install size — but for anyone who’s been put off by the original release, this is a clear, practical improvement that actually changes how the game feels and plays.