The Witcher 3 Complete Edition has launched for PC and consoles that increase the game’s graphics fidelity by increasing draw distance, reworked textures, and inclusion of Ray Tracing. However, PC players are having performance issues following the release of the next-gen update. Not only that, but Witcher 3 next-gen update is also facing in-game crashes, and the following are the fixes.
Last updated on February 24th, 2023 at 09:54 pm
The Witcher 3 Crash Fixes You Can Try
Following the next-gen update, multiple factors are behind the Witcher 3 Wild Hunt crashes, like third-party tools and software, overclocked GPU, lack of administrative rights, and more. The following are the fixes that will help you.
Crash At Startup Fix
Many Witcher 3 players report that the game crashes at launch. Some players get an error message, and some players don’t get any error messages. The following fixes will help you resolve the crash at startup issue.
Run The Game As An Administrator
Often PC video games don’t launch without administrative rights, which might be true with The Witcher 3. Right-click the game in Steam library > Manage > Browse Local files. A new window will open with game files, right-click the executable > properties > Compatibility tab > check “Run this program as an administrator” and press OK. Launch The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt, and it’ll work without crashing at startup.
Disable MSI Afterburner/RivaTuner Statistics Server(RTSS)
PC users often use third-party tools to monitor performance, and MSI Afterburner is the most popular tool in the market. However, using this tool can cause The Witcher 3 to crash at launch, as some games don’t respond well to third-party software interfering. Disable MSI Afterburner or any third-party software you use in the background; the game will launch without crashing.
However, if disabling MSI Afterburner hasn’t fixed the issue, follow these steps. Open RivaTuner Statistics Server(RTSS) > click the Add button and navigate to the game’s folder > add The Witcher 3’s exe under Application profile properties > set Application detection level to None for the game application > close RivaTuner Statistics Server.
Disable Fullscreen Optimizations
Fullscreen optimizations can cause The Witcher 3 to crash, and it’s pretty simple to disable Fullscreen optimizations. Right-click the game in Steam library > Manage > Browse local files. A file explorer window will open with Witcher 3 game files. Right-click the executable > properties > Compatibility tab > check “Disable fullscreen optimizations.”
Crash Fix
With the launch of the Next-gen update for The Witcher 3, players are experiencing in-game crashes, and the following are the fixes.
Update/Reinstall GPU Driver
An outdated GPU driver can cause in-game crashes. However, with Windows being updated regularly, it can cause some driver files to go corrupt or missing. Updating/resignalling the GPU driver will fix the Witcher 3 in-game crash. Ensure you do a clean installation so that no previous profiles or settings can carry over that might have caused the game to crash.
Switch DirectX
The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt next-gen update offers players to play the game using DirectX 11 or DirectX 12. To enable Ray Tracing in The Witcher 3, players must play the game using DX 12. However, the DX 12 version of the game is pretty unoptimized, with severe performance issues, and also causes The Witcher 3 to crash.
I recommend you use the DirectX 11 version to play the game, and the in-game crash will be fixed. However, you won’t be able to enable Ray tracing in the DX 11 version. When you launch the game, a window will pop up where you can choose which DirectX version to use. Choose DX 11, and the in-game crash will be fixed. Also, the DX 11 version of the game offers better performance and stability.
Limit Max FPS
If you are playing The Witcher 3 next-gen update at an unlocked FPS, that might be causing the game to crash. I recommend that you cap the game’s max FPS to 1/2, 1/3rd, or 1/4th of your display refresh rate. Players can limit the FPS through the in-game menu, but it has only 30, 60, and 120 FPS options. If your display has a 165 Hz refresh rate, none of these FPS cap values will feel smooth. Open Nvidia Control Panel> Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings > select the game > enable Max Frame rate and set a value. For a 165 Hz monitor, players can cap the FPS to 42, 55, or 83. Limiting the max FPS will reduce the CPU and GPU load, and The Witcher 3 won’t crash in-game.
That is all for our fixes for The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt’s next-gen update. Also, see our hub for commonly occurring PC errors and their fixes if you are experiencing errors with other PC video games or PC.