topic Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable in Stadia General

Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

Vanquish — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 11:02:10 GMT

Hello everyone,

I'm experiencing a frame drop issue playing watch dogs legion on 4k resolution.

I've purchased the game a few days ago, and in each game session, randomly, the framerate drops at something like 5 fps for several minutes.

Sometimes just waiting or moving around the issues goes away, other times, however, I have to quit. The issue happens even after a few minutes of gameplay.

I have an optic fiber, and I'm also playing Cyberpunk on stadia, and for that, I have no issue.

Did you experience such an issue? Is there anything I can do to avoid that? because it is quite annoying preventing me to play the game I've purchased.

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

Deleted User — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 15:21:48 GMT

@Vanquish I experienced this quite a few times. Normally if you fast travel or drive into a new area/zone the frame rate would restore back to normal. That or I'd have to restart the game.

It's quite annoying but I've read this is a problem across all platforms at the moment.

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

ToyBrain — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 15:47:54 GMT

Its a problem across all Ubisoft games, its just most pronounced in WDL. Play any game from them for long enough and eventually the performance will degrade.
In most games it takes 2-3 hours before you notice anything, but with WDL being a more demanding game, it happens a lot sooner.

The cause is something to do with Ubisoft Connect. To 'fix' the performance, simply pause the game and open the Ubisoft Connect menu. It can take a few seconds to load. Once it's loaded you can exit out and return to the game. The frame-rate should be more-or-less back to normal for another hour.

This 'fix' works across all Ubisoft games - as long as you can get into the Ubisoft Connect menu from within the game (annoyingly, in WD1, which I got as part of the WDL Premium bundle, you cannot).

Hopefully this bug gets fixed at some point in the new year, but until then, it only takes 15 seconds to hop in-and-out of the Ubisoft Connect menu, which is a lot quicker than closing and restarting the game!

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

pupbaz — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 14:29:08 GMT

Experiencing the same thing. have done as recommended by the above user but it only really works for a few minutes and then reverts to a terrible frame rate. Not acceptable when I have paid good money for it.

I have contacted Stadia support and the chap said I was the first one to report anything like this, despite the fact I had seen this thread and another on Reddit about this very problem. Therefore, it would be helpful if you are reading this and having the same problem to report it directly to them.

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

Whito — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 15:54:07 GMT

It is surely an isolated fault that only affects you, is the first time I see someone report this problem.

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

stefan1123 — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 17:49:31 GMT

Can please somebody block this 'Whito' guy..?

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

Whito — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 18:24:43 GMT

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

Devilery — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 19:22:46 GMT

Yeah — I experienced the same issue, and also was surprised because I've played 100+ hours of Cyberpunk and 10+ hours of Doom Eternal with no problem achieving 60fps on either title. Even with a Chromecast Ultra connect via Ethernet, Watch Dogs: Legion experiences a sudden frame drop from time to time.

When I contacted Stadia support, they said that, because I'm not having these issues with any other title, that I need to take the issue up with Ubisoft. I asked the agent if that meant that he thought that the problem is not with the platform but with the devs' use of Stadia's APIs and he said yes, and that this means it's completely up to Ubisoft.

I don't have a lot of experience with Ubisoft, but given that they're so huge and Watch Dogs: Legion is a multiplatform title, I'm skeptical that it'll be a high priority for them.

Personally I'm trying to distract myself with something else and just hope that it gets fixed later, but really we should all report this issue to Ubisoft so they at least know it's happening. With a bug like this (not actually crashing), it's entirely possible that they won't automatically know it's happening.

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

chu — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 20:01:01 GMT

Watchdogs Legion is unplayable in 4k or 1440p because of this issue. The Ubisoft Connect trick doesn't seem to work in these resolutions either. The frame drops seem to happen at completely random times too, sometimes it can be within 5 mins, other times it can take up to an hour.

If you play the game in 1080p this problem seems to go away. There is still sometimes fps drops during longer play sessions, but the Ubisoft Connect workaround seems to fix it.

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

Bufo — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 15:04:08 GMT

I have experienced this issue a lot. Reported it with their feedback option. The quickest solution I have found (when it is possible) is to hijack a camera. Not sure why but this seems to stabilize the framerate. However after using this method or restarting, or going to the menu I have found it can drop again in just a couple of moments or it might take an hour or more. I can not find a consistent trigger for it as it has happened while playing darts (which means yay you lose). I have had it crop up while scanning people (thought oh heavy traffic caused it) and had it while sneaking down an empty hallway. The one consistent thing is that I am using a character. It has never kicked off if I am in a bot or looking through a camera.

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

Devilery — Sat, 06 Feb 2021 15:58:26 GMT

For what it's worth, I fired this title up again a couple of days ago, and over an hour or so of gameplay I was no longer experiencing the issue.

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

Realcodfish — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 22:12:08 GMT

Thanks, all. Exact same issue for me and I’ve found no consistent way to exit 5fps mode though sometimes leaving an area helps... for a few minutes.

Sadly, as mentioned above, Stadia just referred me to Ubisoft as I don’t think it’s been widely reported.

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

DrT — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 19:42:02 GMT

This bug is still present (April 2021) and happening almost every time I play WDL. I'm playing in 4K with a 600 Mbps connection. No issues with any other games on stadia.

The unisoft connect trick doesn't work for me.

I reported to stadia help and they told me I have to take it up with ubisoft. I've seen on their forums that the issue was reported last year but still not fixed.

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

RXShorty — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 00:36:51 GMT

Hi @Realcodfish, @DrT

Well I had some issues with other Ubisoft games and solved it to open Ubisoft Connect within the game somehow.
Maybe give that a try?

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

Borussia — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 22:36:56 GMT

Thanks for your reply.

I can confirm the issue for my WDL license as well if I play 4K/Chromecast. I never experienced it on my phone tbh but I have to admit that I haven't played it a lot on my phone.

Could you test it on your phone, please. Might help us understand where the issue is exactly.

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

Whito — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 07:11:57 GMT

Is broken in Google hardware.

No solution for the game, don 't play.

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

Leandro_Talledo — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 20:15:11 GMT

I'm having the same problem too, but not with other Ubisoft game, only this one for now

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

Zombor — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 11:53:22 GMT

same for me ...please fix

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

iluminate — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 05:28:20 GMT

I just picked up this game on Sale, and I'm having the exact same issues.

Stuttering, frame drops, everything.

I'm also running a wired connection to my CCU, and get 200+ down and up. Never experienced this with any other Ubi title I have.

Re: Watch dogs legion frequent frame rate drop makes it unplayable

RagingJacob — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 17:58:38 GMT

I have to say this is by far the most accurate comment, I just hope they fix it soon.

Because it's nearly May 2021 and This issue hasn't been resolved for 4K Resolution streams on Stadia.