Hitman 3 Crashes, LS-0013 Error, Black Screen & Performance Issues

Are you experiencing crashes and performance issues in Hitman 3 on PC? Check out some workarounds you can try today. Find out more...

Hitman 3 is officially out now on PC and consoles, bringing Agent 47 back into his black suit and red tie. Amidst the hype and anticipation though, its release wasn’t without its issues. The game is out now on the Epic Games Store and before you contact the support center if you encounter issues, take a look at our list of frequent Hitman 3 crashes, error messages, and performance issues.

Hitman 3 Crash at Startup

The first thing you might want to try if Hitman 3 experiences crashes at startup is to run the game straight through its installation folder as an Administrator. Crashing at startup is a classic issue with every PC game that might be related to your hardware and software. First, check if your Windows version is up to date and its service packs installed. If not, then proceed with the installation of the new updates and then try running the game again. If this didn’t work then move on to your GPU updates. Boot up your graphics card software and check if there are any pending updates. Download them if necessary.

Now that all your hardware and software is up to date, it’s time we check security. You can whitelist Hitman 3 from your anti-virus and firewall and try running the game. It’s ofter that games are perceived as viruses and your programs stop it from booting up. Last but not least, you can verify the Hitman 3 files by going to the Epic Games launcher and clicking on the … (three dots) icon next to the game. Click verify and the verification will begin. It might take a while for it to end so be patient. After the verification ends, try running the game again and check if it works correctly.

LS-0013: Game is unable to launch

The above error code is a common one on Epic Games and there are indeed some workarounds you can try in order to get past it. For starters, Epic Games suggests you verify your game’s files as we discussed in the previous error section. Before you run the game again, close down the Epic Games Launcher and run it again with Administrator rights. If needed, do that procedure again for the game’s shortcut.

Transfer Data Stuck

This is an issue that many players are facing right now. However, this isn’t exactly a fixable issue as IO Interactive faced connection issues with users’ accounts within the first hours after the game’s release. The team promises that the problem will be fixed as soon as possible. For what it’s worth, you can start playing the game without your transferred data if you want to play as soon as possible.

Game Download Stuck

Getting a game stuck at downloading is extremely frustrating since it doesn’t allow you to even go past its opening scene. There are a few things you can try that might help you solve the issue. For starters, close down the Epic Games Launcher and run it again. This time, run it with Administrator rights. This way you will ensure that you won’t have any access issues. If the problem persists then you should whitelist the Epic Games launcher from your anti-virus and firewall as well as use a wired connection to ensure that the issue is not a connection one.

VPN programs and browser extensions could result in many launchers failing to download games and updates. As a result, you might have to temporarily delete such programs and see if the issue stops. Epic Games also provides a couple of things you can try. First you can try changing your Domain Name System (DNS). If that didn’t work too, you can edit your engine.ini file by following Epic Games’ guide here.

Hitman 3 Black Screen

When having black screens, the first thing you can try is updating your GPU drivers if there are any updates available. If this isn’t the issue then the next thing that might fix things is running the game on windowed mode and then bring it back to fullscreen as soon as you make sure the game is running correctly.

What you can do is run the game in windowed mode by adding a “-w” to its target through the shortcut’s settings. If your game boots up correctly, then you can go to full screen through the game’s settings. Also, much like with any other big issue, you might have, make sure to whitelist Hitman 3 from your anti-virus and firewall.

Low FPS – Stuttering

Playing a game as demanding as Hitman 3 on a mid to low range PC can have a bad effect on its performance. If that’s the case for you then there are only downgrades you can try to help your system process the game easier. You might be experiencing low FPS at some instances where there’s a lot going on on the screen. In other cases, you might experience hiccups or stuttering. Whatever the case, there are only 2 things you can try.

The first is to play around with the game’s graphics settings and see if downgrading its visuals will make it run smoother. Slow performance is usually an issue that developers tend to look out for in the first weeks. As a result, there will be some fixes coming in the next weeks. Also, you can try closing down any unnecessary programs and browser windows that might be making your CPU and RAM cap above 90%.

These are all the issues you can fix right now without having to rely on super-specific developer fixes or future patches. If you need more help, you should seek help on the Hitman forums or through the Epic Games support center. For everything else, IO Interactive will roll out updates that will make the game run smoother on PC.

Always looking for a deep story, empathetic characters, and a great soundtrack in video games. Hardcore game hoarder and a strong believer that one day Xbox will win the console war.