Assassin’s Creed 3 Crashes, Errors, Freezes, Lag, Connection and Fixes

List of errors, crashes, freezes that you might come across in Assassin's Creed 3 and workarounds to fix them.


Ubisoft delayed the PC version of Assassin’s Creed 3 on purpose as they wanted to give a better port to the users. The day has arrived when the game has been released on PC globally. So is it a good port or a bad one?

Well, I would say that it’s looking slightly better than the predecessors. However, there are possibilities that you may face some errors, crashes or other game breaking issues.

If you are looking for the fixes on these problems, you can browse through the following short list of various problems that can spoil the fun for you.

#1 Asssassin’s Creed 3 Poor Performance/FPS Drop
If you are having performance problems even after meeting the recommended system requirements, you can try out the following:

Being a Nvidia user, you need to try these beta drivers.
Make sure that no/minimum background applications are running. Also try turning off Fraps as it can also give you some boost in peformance.

#2 Assassin’s Creed 3 Setam Code Error – Activation Code Not Valid From Uplay
If you are receiving this error, you should restart Uplay and try again. It should work after some time.

#3 Assassin’s Creed 3 – How to Redeem Additional Content In Deluxe Addition (Benedict Arnold DLC)
If you have the additional content which comes with the deluxe addition and don’t know how to redeem it, then you should start the game and click the “Extras” button. Here, you can enter the code and get the bonus. You will unlock it after sequence 8.

#4 Assassin’s Creed 3 Graphics Problem – Black Bars On Top and Bottom of Screen
The issue is related to the aspect ratio. Hopefully, Ubisoft will come up with a fix but for the time being, you will have to be contented with 16:9 or 4:3 rather than 16:10 which will give you these black bars.

#5 Assassin’s Creed 3 Crash – Nvidia Drivers Stopped Working
For Nvidia users, there are beta drivers available which can resolve the crash issue. However, if the beta drivers (which can be unstable), don’t work, you should roll back to the stock version.

#6 Assassin’s Creed 3 Error – Driver Stopped Responding
You can do two things to fix the issue:

  • Try the beta drivers.
  • Or if you have overclocked GPU, reset it to the factory setting to avoid the crash.

#7 Assassin’s Creed 3 Crashes at Menu Screen
You need to check the integrity of game files. It may replace the ac3.exe file and fix it. Otherwise, you can ask someone to send their file to you which you can replace with your own downloaded file.

#8 Assassin’s Creed 3 CRC Error – Unable To Install/Launch
The error usually corresponds to the missing files in the download or the media is unable to read. These are the things you can do to get rid of it:

  • Clean the media source (CD) properly and try again.
  • If it’s a digital download, it may have missed some files. A fresh download may solve the issue.
  • Make sure that your firewall isn’t blocking the game.
  • If you are getting the error during launch, try running the game as ‘administrator’.

#9 Assassin’s Creed 3 Connection Issues/Lag
You may encounter horrible lag in the multiplayer or may not be able to join with your friends or other games. To solve this problem, check the following:

  • Your windows firewall/antivirus should not be blocking the game.
  • Make sure that the following ports (required for AC3 multiplayer) are opened:
    • UDP: 21200, 7959, and 3074
    • For Uplay (TCP): 80, 443, 13000, 13005, 13200

If you come across any other issue, let us know by commenting below!

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Ali is a passionate RPG gamer. He believes that western RPGs still have a lot to learn from JRPGs. He is editor-in-chief at SegmentNext.com but that doesn't stop him from writing about his favorite video ...