Assassin's Creed Mirage Runs Well on the Steam Deck, But It Isn't Perfect

Today, Ubisoft has released the newest entry in the long-running Assassin's Creed series, bringing us back to the more linear times from the start of the games. Assassin's Creed: Mirage looks like it will be exactly what many people wanted and were hoping for, and the $49.99 price point is very fair, but will you be able to play on the go? Assassin's Creed: Mirage plays well on the Steam Deck, but I feel some warning flags could make it harder as the game goes on.

Getting Assassin's Creed: Mirage on the Steam Deck

The newest Assassin's Creed game is, unfortunately, not released on Steam. Ubisoft has elected to only release on the Epic Games Store and their own DRM, Ubisoft Connect. Installing it through either of these methods isn't difficult, but it requires some outside help. Luckily, we've got you covered! You can go ahead and follow our guide on how to install the game through either storefront and get it up and running with the newest Proton GE layer (8-16), which is what I am using to play.

Now, let's discuss performance.

How Assassin's Creed: Mirage Runs on the Steam Deck So Far

This is an impression of the game so far, not a full review. I have only played the first hour or so of the game, and this is merely to give an impression to those willing to take the risk before we fully test the game.

When I began the game, which I am playing from Ubisoft Connect, it seemed to hang a little bit, and I thought it was frozen. Thankfully, I waited a bit, and the game started running. It seemed to only do this on the first start, since every launch after, it ran through without any hanging. Then, I got right into the game.

Setting the game on Low settings with FSR 2 and setting the adaptive framerate to 45, I got an almost solid 40 FPS in many areas. Unfortunately, there are a couple of areas that did start to drop the framerate a bit. This happens when looking at crowded areas or overlooking large sections of land. This happened even without any TDP limits or set GPU Clock Speed Frequencies.

The stuttering felt jarring, so I tried setting the adaptive framerate to 30 and the framerate cap to 30. I got a very smooth feeling game that not only stuck to 30 almost the entire time but kept battery drain below 20W for the most part. I was impressed with how well the game ran while looking so sharp on the smaller screen, even at low settings. Assassin's Creed: Mirage also has 16:10 resolution support, which means no black bars, which I love.

The one other part that worried me a bit was actually after the opening area. While talking to Basim's mentor, the framerate randomly dipped and fluctuated almost throughout the entire discussion. After, the framerate evened out at 30, but it was still quite weird to see. I hope this will only happen here, but with Denuvo being added at the last minute, I have my worries.

Using the same settings, I ran a benchmark which, for the most part, did stick to 30 FPS. It did have some slight stutters in the beginning when many people were on screen, but if I didn't see the bar, it wouldn't be easily noticed. Throughout the benchmark, the game still looked fabulous and was able to hold its own, which does give me a little bit of hope.

So that's how Assassin's Creed: Mirage seems to be running! I am overall more impressed, but it does make sense that this runs a bit better than the last 3 games since it is a more focused and linear experience. There are some warning signs of possible dips further in, but for the most part, I do have confidence the game will keep up with the framerate.

Assassin's Creed: Mirage is available now on the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Connect for $49.99, with a Deluxe Edition available for $59.99.

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