Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the biggest video game launches of 2023, which is huge considering the game has only been released for PC, at the time of writing. PC video games often face errors and issues and Baldur’s Gate 3 is no exception as players report errors like Vulkan Error, DXGI error, and in-game crashes. According to players, the game crashes while playing. In this Baldur’s Gate 3 guide, I will list fixes that will help PC players fix the in-game crashes.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Crash Fixes That’ll Help
PC players report that Baldur’s Gate 3 is crashing randomly while playing. There are multiple reasons for this behavior like the GPU driver not being compatible, Early Access files interfering with the full launch, Vulkan API, in-game overlays, and more. The following are the fixes for Baldur’s Gate 3 crashes.
Switch API
One reason why Baldur’s Gate 3 is crashing is the API, the game supports both Vulkan and DirectX APIs. Vulkan often provides better performance compared to DirectX which makes it the first choice for PC players. If your current API is Vulkan, switch to DirectX, you can do that through the game launcher, under the Play button players can select the API. Also, if you are currently using DirectX, switch to Vulkan, and Baldur’s Gate 3 in-game crashes will be fixed.
Install Beta Vulkan Driver
Another reason why Baldur’s Gate 3 is crashing is your GPU driver. PC players have reported that with the latest NVidia GPU drivers, the game is crashing, but installing the beta Vulkan drivers for the Nvidia GPUs fixes the crashes. Install the beta Vulkan driver > restart your PC > launch Baldur’s Gate 3 > a pop will appear telling your the GPU driver is outdated. Ignore the pop message, play the game, and the Baldur’s Gate 3 crashes are now fixed.
Delete Early Access Files
Before Baldur’s Gate 3 final release, devs noted that Early Access members must delete all the game files and save data from the game’s Early Access phase as it’ll cause issues with the final release. Those Early Access files for the Baldur’s Gate 3 are causing the game to crash. Deleting these files will fix it.
Go to C:\users\’your name’\appdata\local\larian studios\ Baldur’s Gate 3” and delete the folder. After that, verify game files by right-clicking the game in Steam library > properties > installed files > Verify integrity of game files.
Disable Third-Party Software
Using third-party software like MSI Afterburner to monitor performance, RGB software, driver/software for third-party peripherals, and more causes games to crash. It seems to be the case with Baldur’s Gate 3 as players report that playing the game with DirectX API and using MASI Afterburner to monitor performance, causes it to crash. Disable any third-party tool you are using and the game will stop crashing.
Disable In-Game Overlays
Almost every piece of software related to video games has an in-game overlay like Discord. These in-game overlays allow PC players to access features easily without having to Alt+tabing the game. However, these in-game overlays can interfere with the game and cause it to crash. Disable in-game overlays like Steam in-game overlay, GeForce Experience overlay, Discord overlay, and more.
To disable Steam overlay, open Steam > settings > In-game > uncheck “Enable the Steam overlay while in-game.”
To disable the GeForce Experience overlay, open GeForce Experience> click on the Gear icon next to your username > General > turn off the “IN-GAME Overlay” options.
Delete DirectX Shader Cache
DirectX shader cache is another reason why the game crashes. Deleting the cache fixes the crashing issue and there are two ways to do it. The first one is, go to C:\Users\’your username’\AppData\Local\NVIDIA and delete the DXCache folder.
The second way to delete the Direct shader cache is to type ‘disk cleanup’ in Windows search > select C drive and press Ok > select DirectX Shader Cache > press OK, and Windows will delete the DirectX Shader cache.
Run The Game In Compatibility Mode
Right-click the game in Steam library > Manage > Browse Local files. A new Explorer window will open with the game files > right-click the executable > Compatibility tab > check “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” > select Windows 8 and apply the changes. This will fix the BG3 crash.
That is all for our Baldur’s Gate 3 fixes for the crashing issue. If you are experiencing other errors and issues with the game, check out detailed fixes for Baldur’s Gate 3 error. If you are facing errors and issues with other PC games or your PC then also see our hub for commonly occurring PC errors and their fixes.