PS5 and Xbox Series X/S upgrade but... the PS5 upgrade is notably missing lots of core visual features. Digital Foundry has ed a video comparing the PS5 upgrade not just with the new Xbox versions, but the PS4 Pro version as well.
This comes as a surprise as Ubisoft tends to release some pretty incredible looking games. The Assassin's Creed games have been a true visual showcase for consoles for the last decade or so, especially following entries like Origins and Valhalla which are stunners. Ubisoft's The Division is also quite a prominent title, thanks to its Snowdrop engine which will also be used in its Star Wars game. The engine has allowed developer Massive Entertainment to create some really authentic and immersive environments within The Division series.
Unfortunately, some of the power of that engine somehow got lost when making the PS5 update for The Division 2. The new patch is not a new native version of the game but instead enhances the backward compatible version. The Xbox Series X version meets the standards it should but the PS5 is lacking in a lot of key visual effects. Digital Foundry notes an extreme level of detail has been lost on the PS5 version as it is a bit broken. Things like fog, smoke, lighting, and other pretty essential details to The Division 2 are completely missing.
Digital Foundry doesn't give a clear reason as to how this could've happened but does suggest that it's surprising the PS5 update was even released like this. The game does have tiny FPS drops of about one or two frames on PS5 but only in one section early on. On the other hand, in various different areas, The Division 2 on Xbox Series X does drop anywhere from 5 to 10 frames in certain moments, such as the level up animation, bringing it down to 50 FPS at its lowest. The PS5 version of the game also takes much longer to load into when compared to the Xbox Series X/S. The Xbox Series X takes about 7 seconds, Series S takes about 11, and PS5 is a hefty 17 seconds which is rather shocking given its lightning-fast SSD.
The Division 2 is still silky smooth at 60FPS but lacks a lot of crucial details on PS5, making it quite ugly. The game is far too dark in certain scenes due to the black levels being messy and it feels like the Snowdrop engine isn't being utilized to its full potential on the new console. Whether or not Ubisoft will fix this in another patch remains to be seen.
Source: Digital Foundry
