Ubisoft is updating Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced for PlayStation 5 Pro with significant visual enhancements that target players seeking higher fidelity on Sony's latest hardware. The remake, which utilizes the company's newest Anvil engine, introduces advanced rendering techniques that distinguish this release from a standard remaster. These changes matter because they allow PS5 Pro owners to experience improved lighting, sharper upscaling, and more realistic character animations that were not present in the base console version.
Enhanced lighting and strand-based hair simulation arrive July 9
The PS5 Pro version of the game introduces extended ray tracing across all three available graphics modes, including Performance, Balanced, and Fidelity settings. This update adds Ray-Traced Specular Reflections to the existing Ray-Traced Global Illumination, creating more accurate light interactions on surfaces such as wet wood, metal, and ocean spray. Ubisoft stated in a PlayStation Blog post that these features enable richer lighting quality while maintaining higher performance targets for players who prioritize frame rate stability.
Visual fidelity improvements also extend to character rendering through the expansion of strand-based hair simulation for the protagonist Edward and crowd members in cinematics. The engine now simulates and renders individual hair strands rather than relying solely on traditional static hair cards, allowing for more natural motion and realistic responses to wind. Additionally, the PS5 Pro build supports the latest version of PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, which upscales the image to 2160p to deliver better image quality and improved reconstruction compared to previous iterations.
Players can choose between three distinct performance profiles on the PS5 Pro: a 60fps Performance mode, a 30fps Fidelity mode, and a 40fps Balanced mode. The base PS5 version also receives updates, offering the same three graphics modes but without the extended ray tracing and advanced upscaling features reserved for the Pro model. Information regarding Xbox Series X and Series S specifications has not yet been made available, though industry observers expect the Xbox versions to feature specs similar to the base PS5 configuration.
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is scheduled for global release on July 9. We looked at Ubisoft details Assassin’s Creed Black Flag earlier while tracking Ubisoft coverage.
The July 9 launch date marks the availability of the enhanced PS5 Pro version alongside the standard console releases. All confirmed features, including the extended ray tracing, PSSR upscaling, and strand-based hair simulation, are verified through Ubisoft's official PlayStation Blog announcement.
Source: VideoGameChronicles
