Every Assassin's Creed Game Tested On The Steam Deck

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The Assassin's Creed series is one of the biggest franchises that Ubisoft has created, and for good reason. I still have fond memories of playing through the Ezio trilogy or sailing through the seas in Black Flag. I have some wonderful memories from those games. With Assassin's Creed Shadows coming out on Steam, and will be compatible with the Steam Deck, I wanted to take a moment and look back at how all the other games in the series run on the Steam Deck!

Before going into it, these are all impressions, not full reviews of each game. It is possible there may be some unexpected performance drops or changes later in each game. This is a test to see what is playable and how we think it will run. All games tested are the Steam version.

Assassin's Creed (2007/2008)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 60 FPS
• TDP Limit: None
• Expected Battery Life: 2 - 2.5 Hours (LCD), 3 - 3.5 Hours (OLED)

Assassin's Creed 1 starts off the series, and it works decently well on the Deck. However, it won't recognize the gamepad immediately. To fix this, go in-game and use the touchpad to modify the controls. Then, change the controller to "Controller (XBOX 360 For Windows)." Once that is done, you are free to use the gamepad without issue. The game does drain a bit more than expected for a game this old, but it is still playable. 90 FPS is possible, but there will be moments when it drops, so it's best to just play at 60.

I didn't have to go through Ubisoft's DRM to launch the game.

Assassin's Creed 2 (2009/2010)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 60 FPS
• TDP Limit: None
• Expected Battery Life: 2 - 2.5 Hours (LCD), 3 - 3.5 Hours (OLED)

Assassin's Creed 2 seems to run beautifully on the Steam Deck at the highest quality settings. It sticks to 60 FPS with an average 11W - 15W battery drain so far for similar battery life as Assassin's Creed 1. However, controls are weird for this one. It won't recognize the Steam Deck's controller, but there is a default control scheme that was made by the community that works well. Regardless, this should be a great experience on the Deck.

You do have to log in and go through Ubisoft Connect to play.

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (2010/2011)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 60 FPS
• TDP Limit: None
• Expected Battery Life: 2.5 - 3 Hours (LCD), 3.5 - 4 Hours (OLED)

While Assassin's Creed Brotherhood does hit up to 90 FPS, it does drain a lot of battery and I would say avoid it. If you bring it down to 60 FPS, it keeps drain significantly lower and is still very stable. I was getting better battery life with Brotherhood versus the two games before it, and that's just awesome. And it recognizes the controller, which is another nice bonus! This game is definitely playable on the Steam Deck.

You do have to log in and go through Ubisoft Connect to play.

Assassin's Creed Revelations (2011)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 60 FPS
• TDP Limit: None
• Expected Battery Life: 2 - 2.5 Hours (LCD), 3 - 3.5 Hours (OLED)

Just like the last two games, Revelations performs admirably on the Steam Deck. It drains a little bit more than Brotherhood, ranging around 13W - 15W battery drain at 60 FPS on the default settings, but it's still very enjoyable and playable. The controller is recognize, the visuals are sharp, and I can't see this not being a great time on the go. It can hit up to 90 FPS as well, but it won't be stable and drain way more battery.

You do have to log in and go through Ubisoft Connect to play.

Assassin's Creed 3/Liberation (2012) (Not Available on Steam)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 45 FPS
• TDP Limit: None
• Expected Battery Life: 2 - 2.5 Hours (LCD), 3 - 3.5 Hours (OLED)

This is the turning point where the series starts to get a little harder to run. The open areas are not as bad in Assassin's Creed 3, but the bigger cities start to show some performance drops. Because of this, I recommend setting the framerate to 40 or 45 FPS. It isn't as smooth as 60, but it still feels pretty great and is definitely playable. The game wouldn't recognize my controller, so I had to use the keyboard and mouse controller template to play. It's still do-able, but feels a little stiff to control.

You do have to log in and go through Ubisoft Connect to play.

Assassin's Creed 3/Liberation Remastered (2019)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 40 FPS
• TDP Limit: None
• Expected Battery Life: 2 - 2.5 Hours (LCD), 2.5 - 3 Hours (OLED)

While this does run on the Steam Deck, it does require more power. It will need a 40 FPS lock and does drain a bit more battery, but it is playable and does work. I personally prefer the older version, the eyes in the remaster look creepy to me, but it's still enjoyable.

Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag/Freedom Cry (2013)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 40 FPS
• Expected Battery Life: 2 - 2.5 Hours (LCD), 3 - 3.5 Hours (OLED)

The game gets a bit heavy when running around a lot and in bigger cities, but it is still playable. I noticed that the game doesn't fully utilize the GPU in some areas, so setting a GPU clock speed will help in these scenarios, but there are still some drops here and there. To make things easier, I recommend setting a framerate limit of 40 FPS to keep battery drain down and the game stable.

You do have to log in and go through Ubisoft Connect to play.

Assassin's Creed Unity (2014)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 40 FPS
• Expected Battery Life: 1.5 - 2 Hours (LCD), 2.5 - 3 Hours (OLED)

For the first newer generation Assassin's Creed game over the previous ones, Unity runs pretty decently while still looking great. Capping it to 40 FPS is going to be the way to go, though running in crowded streets may see some minor drops here and there. Either way, it's definitely playable and I couldn't be happier with the results!

You do have to log in and go through Ubisoft Connect to play.

Assassin's Creed Rogue (2015)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 60 FPS
• Expected Battery Life: 3 - 3.5 Hours (LCD), 4 - 4.5 Hours (OLED)

Assassin's Creed Rogue runs beautifully on the Steam Deck, and there should be no problems playing it at 60 FPS at default settings. I noticed little slowdowns, but I do recommend setting the framerate to 60 FPS/Hz for stability, since the game defaults to 62 FPS and won't go higher.

You do have to log in and go through Ubisoft Connect to play.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate (2015)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 40 FPS
• Expected Battery Life: 1.5 - 2 Hours (LCD), 2.5 - 3 Hours (OLED)

The performance for Syndicate is similar to Unity and capping at 40 FPS is the best compromise with the default settings. It looks solid and feels great to play, which is awesome. I would definitely consider the game playable from my experience so far, and even if we have to cap at 30 FPS later for stability, this will still be a great time.

You do have to log in and go through Ubisoft Connect to play.

Assassin's Creed Origins (2017)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 30 FPS
• Expected Battery Life: 1.5 Hours (LCD), 2.5 Hours (OLED)

Assassin's Creed Origins was the series' shift to a more open-world, and it definitely hurts performance a bit. It is still playable, but we will need a 30 FPS cap. It also drains the maximum battery that it can for the most stability possible. There may be some leeway with a TDP limit to save on battery, but it could get much tougher later on, so I think it's safest to just keep the limit off.

You do have to log in and go through Ubisoft Connect to play.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 30 FPS
• Expected Battery Life: 1.5 Hours (LCD), 2.5 Hours (OLED)

Similar to Origins, 30 FPS is going to be the way to go for this one, but it is playable! At the default settings, I was getting 30 FPS, even at the opening battle of 300. It also needed all of the power it could get for stability, especially in that opening battle, but with some changes, I could see a TDP limit helping to conserve power.

You do have to log in and go through Ubisoft Connect to play.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla (2022)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 30 FPS
• Expected Battery Life: 1.5 Hours (LCD), 2.5 Hours (OLED)

Also very similar to Origins and Odyssey, Valhalla is best at 30 FPS and needs as much power as it can get at the default settings. But, it is still very playable and looks beautiful on the smaller screen.

You do have to log in and go through Ubisoft Connect to play.

Assassin's Creed Mirage (2024)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 40 FPS
• Expected Battery Life: 1.5 - 2 Hours (LCD), 2.5 - 3 Hours (OLED)

In my comparison article with the Steam and Ubisoft Connect version of Mirage, I was able to comfortably play the Steam version of the game at 40 FPS locked. It still drained a solid amount of battery, but it was better performing than the Ubisoft Connect version and I enjoyed it a lot. It's similar in performance to Unity and Syndicate.

You do have to log in and go through Ubisoft Connect to play.

Assassin's Creed Chronicles China/India/Russia (2015-2016)

• Recommended Frame Limit: 60 FPS
• TDP Limit: None
• Expected Battery Life: 3 - 3.5 Hours (LCD), 4.5 - 5 Hours (OLED)

The Assassin's Creed Chronicles games all perform around the same, which is fantastic because they all perform very well. They can hit 60 FPS with around a 9W - 12W battery drain, which is pretty great. The game itself isn't as demanding as the mainline part of the series, but there should be no problem playing on Deck.

You do have to log in and go through Ubisoft Connect to play.

And those are all the available Assassin's Creed games and how they run on the Steam Deck. Honestly, the series is pretty great on the Deck, so it's awesome that we can enjoy every entry on the go. On top of that, Assassin's Creed Shadows is going to be Steam Deck compatible too, so we can continue assassinating wherever we are.

If you enjoyed this article, check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that will help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got you covered!