If you’ve been experiencing random frame-rate drops with your Nintendo Switch, it turns out you’re not alone. Digital Foundry first reported on this issue in their Breath of the Wild analysis and they couldn’t pinpoint the issue to a single area in the game, but it turns out that’s because it’s not the game’s fault the performance drops.
A new report from NintendoLife highlights the issue as a reader has discovered the issue exists in several other games as well, including Fast RMX and I Am Setsuna. Both of these games couldn’t be more different, Fast RMX is an F-Zero clone, while I Am Setsuna is a throwback JRPG.
Supposedly, issues in these games are all stemming from the Switch itself seeking a WiFi connection.
I believe these are not the fault of the game, but of the Switch trying to periodically auto-connect to WiFi where there is no network available. This is supposed to happen in the background, but it apparently does affect the game(s).
I actually noticed this in FAST RMX first, where I got periodical FPS drops, while everyone was always saying that it is a perfectly locked 60 FPS experience. It wasn’t game breaking, but it made me curious. Driving in circles also made the periodical nature so much more apparent.
NintendoLife has confirmed the issue with an anonymous developer who doesn’t want to be named. For now, it looks like Nintendo is working on the issue but if you find yourself distracted by these random frame-rate drops, you can put the Switch into Airplane Mode in order to avoid it happening. The only bad thing about this remedy is that Airplane Mode doesn’t work with the Switch docked, so there’s no fix for a docked Switch yet.
[via NL]