JAARRRR, Mateys!

Fine, I’ll stop with that. But you’d better ready yourself for a metaphorical mutiny. Now, somehow Hardware Unboxed sneakily boarded my pirate-pun galleon and raided its treasure chest full of allegories for their GPU benchmark video. So, if I happen to parrot one of theirs, it’s sort of by accident. Captain Morgan forbade me from memorizing them, and I’m not double-checking their video just to avoid looking like a filthy privateer. Their exhaustive Black Flag GPU benchmark intro is full of quips that I now have to Sailor’s Jig around.

Thanks, Steve!

You should watch it, though, to find out the baseline performance of your GPU. But: Chances are you probably already did. So, after you finished my analysis, please tell me whose pirate jokes you preferred.

With that out of the way, ahoi to another Linux performance analysis.

Let’s find out how the remake of the darling of Assassin’s Creed games runs on Linux. Does it float my boat, or is it a drunken sailor? And how does it stack up against Windows 11?

Grab your favorite beverage as long as it’s rum, and then let’s go on a quest for ships.

Hardware & Software

My ship is equipped with a Ryzen 7800X3D, 32 GB of RAM, and an RX 9070 XT. I compared my system with Hardware Unboxed’s results and can confirm the same performance, despite a slightly slower CPU. AMD’s 9070 XT is clearly the limiting factor.

In terms of operating systems, Bazzite is still stuck on version 43 for its Deck variant. From what I found, they are taking their time to update it to version 44, while the desktop variants are already a step ahead. We’ll see if this is a disadvantage in the Linux naval battle against CachyOS. The Arch-based Linux is already on Kernel 7 and Mesa 26.1, whereas Bazzite must make do with Kernel 6.17 and Mesa 26.0.

All my tests are performed at the native 1440p resolution.

I purchased the game… excuse me, I mean a revocable license to the game on the de facto monopoly game store, Steam, in hopes of a Steam Machine-like experience with much better performance using Bazzite’s Gaming Mode.

Game Launch & Main Menu

My biggest question mark concerned the launch experience. I believe AC Shadows was a bit picky at first. Ubisoft’s launcher is something that simply should not exist for a truly streamlined process, regardless of the OS. So, what about Black Flag Resynced?

Well… It’s a process. A very random and unreliable one. Which makes it a true pirate, thereby achieving full immersion. But only if it eventually launches. I managed to boot into the game exactly two times: once on Bazzite and once on CachyOS. I am clueless as to why. Sailing the beautiful seas of the Internet didn’t yield any loot that would crack this mysterious treasure chest. I tried with and without my usual launch parameters, and it didn’t matter. Desktop or fullscreen Gamescope session? Irrelevant. Different Proton variants? All the same.

German publication PC Games Hardware seemed to have more consistent wind in its sails for its benchmarks. Maybe purchasing the game directly from Ubisoft and going through the painful process of setting up Ubisoft Connect on Linux once is a better approach. But also not flawless, according to PCGH.

Once you manage to get into the game, you’re greeted with the same convoluted and slowly transitioning menu as exists in AC Shadows. To Ubisoft’s credit, though, their games and menus are very customizable from an accessibility perspective.

And! You won’t believe it! You can fully remap controller inputs. I don’t recall if AC Shadows also supported this feature, but Black Flag Resynced does. Awesome. Bottoms up for this one! Another cool feature is that you can set the audio and text languages separately. That’s great if you prefer English audio, for example, but want subtitles in your native language in case you’re not fluent or maybe for your viewers if you stream gameplay.

Lastly, let’s quickly cover the graphics settings. In short, they are a copy of AC Shadows, with a small change. In addition to the already ridiculous seven, yes, seven, presets, Ubisoft thought to themselves that this isn’t enough. The more you buy, the more… No wait, wrong analogy. Although Jensen is kinda pi-raiding (🥁) your wallets, stealing your money, and calling you poor while doing so.

My point is: Ubisoft added three more presets, all focused on handhelds. And to top it all off, the ray tracing feature is not tied to any of the presets. If you want to go crazy, you can have 30 different combinations just by using the built-in graphics presets and raytracing options.

🤯

And if that weren’t enough, changing the presets requires a game reboot. One or more individual setting, which I have not invested any time in uncovering, cannot be applied on the fly. When we look at screenshots, we’ll come back to this.

How about some cheap wine after this realization? I need a drink.

By the way, Windows 11 wasn’t flawless, either. A very strange resolution issue had me scratching my head for a while. While I was piping the output through a capture card that can do 4K, Ubisoft’s Anvil engine tripped like a wasted buccaneer. Based on my research, this appears to be related to the recommended resolution in Windows. If the game isn’t also set to this recommendation, you get black bars at the top and bottom, regardless of your settings. I also encountered this behavior in AC Shadows. For me, the only fix was to remove the capture card from the loop. It didn’t matter how I set the resolution in Windows and in-game. 

I assume that as long as your monitor’s native resolution, Windows desktop, and game resolution match, which is most likely the case for the majority of gamers, you should be fine.

Performance

The footage so far was from the opening area only and will continue to be. It is quite the workout for the GPU, so that’s fine. Since I wasn’t in the mood to test 10 graphics presets, which also doesn’t make sense for my type of hardware, I channeled my inner Chief Executive Pirate and decided to start with the High preset combined with Ray Tracing Extended. I want RT global illumination and pretty reflections. Both already had a huge impact in AC Shadows, and they do here as well.

High + RT Extended

After watching the Hardware Unboxed benchmarks, I was surprised by how well the 9070 XT performed, even at the native resolution. But I also knew that AC Shadows ran much worse on Linux than on Windows. It wasn’t even a contest, and brief revisits with newer Linux and Mesa versions didn’t meaningfully improve anything. As such, I wasn’t expecting much, set my sails at half-mast, and braced for impact.

To my surprise, the opening naval battle runs great, despite the horrendous weather conditions. Heavy effects, like explosions, drop the performance, of course, but overall it is as smooth as sweet wine. Emerging from the sea near the island after the ship crashed and burned shows how truly beautiful and taxing this game can be. And we’re not even at the highest preset yet. But as soon as we’re out of the water, 60 – 70 FPS are the norm. Occasional drops into the high 50s are possible, too. If you have a modern display with VRR, you’ll be fine.

Very High + RT Extended

Stepping up to the Very High preset eats exactly 10 frames per second atop the synchronization point. And the trend continues, as was to be expected. Although the average is still around 60 FPS, drops into the mid-50s are much more common now, though we can still see 70 FPS depending on the scene. But don’t expect that when water is on screen. Beautiful reflections have their price.

Nevertheless, if you’re playing on a VRR display, which is very likely on the PC at least, you’ll be fine when using a controller. I was playing with a keyboard and mouse, so I definitely noticed sub-60 FPS performance.

Still, you will be fine. Even more so, if you aren’t opposed to the idea of using upscaling. Which you shouldn’t. Quality today is very good, and the performance gained is worth it. I don’t have tests for that, though, thanks to the unreliable nature of launching the game on Linux.

Based on my first impressions after about 60 minutes with Black Flag Resynced, you don’t necessarily need to use the highest-quality settings. Medium quality with RT Standard, so only global illumination, is already quite a looker. There’s no need to go in blind drunk just to survive the lower preset. This game is beautiful.

And also, just enable upscaling.

Comparison

For the best and most reliable comparison, I ran the integrated benchmark. For presets, I went with the aforementioned Medium quality with RT Standard and High + Very High with RT Extended. All at native resolution.

Please note that Windows 11 could be a bit faster in practice. I had to run the benchmark while OBS was recording in the background on the same machine to get the proper resolution and aspect ratio. Usually I do this via a capture card, but as explained earlier, the game didn’t like this. However, the difference between OBS running and not is in the very low single-digit FPS.

Medium + RT Standard

Let’s start with Medium quality and work our way up the pirate social ladder.

Our baseline is Windows 11, with an average of 106 FPS and 87 FPS at the 1%-lows. Bazzite comes in second at 103 FPS and 78 FPS. CachyOS comes in last at 103 FPS and 74 FPS. What’s immediately noticeable is how close all three systems are. Windows’ biggest advantage is the 1%-low result. Its performance is more consistent.

High + RT Extended

Continuing with High and the full suite of RT effects, nothing changes. Windows is ever-so-slightly ahead, with the biggest advantage being the consistency. But at this point, the performance is so close that it could fall in the margin of error category if I were to run the benchmark multiple times and average the results. All systems effectively deliver the same gaming experience.

Very High + RT Extended

Our final graphics configuration shows more of the same. All systems deliver about 70 FPS on average and between 50 and 58 FPS in 1%-lows. Windows is on the higher end of these results, but this is a far cry from the assassination of Linux in AC Shadows.

Screenshots

Before I wrap this up with a shanty, let’s look at screenshots of all the presets. Because the game is a prickly pirate on all systems, I don’t have framerate numbers on screen to gauge the preset scaling. Maybe if the game launch situation on Linux improves, I may return for another follow-up report, including more screenshots with FPS numbers. But only maybe. Constantly restarting the game, which luckily happens automatically and circumvents launch problems, makes it hard to stay in the same location and always look in the same direction. It only works on checkpoints.

Doing an analysis like this for the Anvil Engine is a bit of a pain. Pain, one must dull with RUM! Luckily, you don’t drive a ship, so we’re good to drink.

One more note regarding the RT settings: Unlike the previous tests, I decided that RT Standard is a good fit for the Medium and the High preset, and RT Extended only for the top two visual presets. Everything else does not get RT at all. I really wish Ubisoft would include RT in the global presets. It’s available in all modes on the modern Xbox and PlayStation consoles, so I think it’s time to treat it as an integral part of the global settings.

Famous Last Words

After all of my tests, I think we’re dealing with a drunken sailor. So, what shall we do with him? Take him and shake him only worked sparingly on Linux. No matter how often I pressed Play, it wouldn’t launch as often as I liked – which was every time. I suppose the only thing we can do right now is wait until the situation improves, or hope that the community finds workarounds, or you aren’t affected by the issues that sullied my plundering.

How can I be pirating if the game doesn’t launch? Is rating pies at the nearest bakery my only option? Or use Windows? I think I prefer the bakery 🥧.

It’s a shame, really, because Linux isn’t a dead calm to my galleon’s sails as it was in AC Shadows. Performance is delightfully good, and with a bit of upscaling, it can be great. It’s not like you’re losing something by avoiding Windows. But that doesn’t help if the launch experience is a deadbeat drunk that can’t make it out of the tavern after celebrating a successful raid. Imagine you’re trying to walk AI companies off the plank and the mechanism is so rusty that you’re unable to lower it into position. A tragedy.

I hope this gets fixed, because I doubt Microsoft will get its sh!t (💩) together and actually follow through with improving Windows. Permanently, mind you.

Thank you for stepping foot on my dinky little dinghy. I hope you enjoyed this analysis. If not, I hope you at least enjoyed your favorite beverage – which was rum, or it doesn’t count.

(Despite the occasional appearance of M-dashes, this is a handcrafted text! After all, these are viable stylistic devices.)