We have waited long enough and finally, it’s time we relish the final iteration in The Witcher trilogy. The Witcher 3 is out and PC master race is all set to test its visual brilliance and addictive gameplay.
The game has managed to secure almost perfect scores and is already a strong contender for GOTY. Since the reviews were on PS4 and we aren’t yet 100% sure about the PC version, we can’t really pass the verdict at least not for a few days.
Since The Witcher 3 has its fair share of problems on PC, we have compiled a list of most common problems with workarounds to fix them. Feel free to browse the though them to find the fixes to the most common issues you may be experiencing while playing the game.
Minimum System Requirements
- OS: 64-bit Windows 7 or 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1)
- Processor: Intel CPU Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz / AMD CPU Phenom II X4 940
- Memory: 6 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 660 / AMD GPU Radeon HD 7870
- Hard Drive: 35 GB available space
Recommended System Requirements
- OS: 64-bit Windows 7 or 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1)
- Processor: Intel CPU Core i7 3770 3.4 GHz / AMD CPU AMD FX-8350 4 GHz
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 770 / AMD GPU Radeon R9 290
- Hard Drive: 35 GB available space
For more help on The Witcher 3, read our Romance Guide, Alchemy Guide and Crafting Guide.
#1 The Witcher 3 Crashes to Desktop / The Witcher 3 Crash Fix
The Witcher 3 is a resource hungry game and if your software in not optimized well, you may come across crashes and errors. First thing first, your PC should meet the minimum system requirements for the game. If that’s not the issue, you can try out the following workarounds to avoid the crashes:
- Verify your game cache via Steam.
- Make sure you have properly download the day one patch.
- You should have the latest drivers for your GPU.
- In the game folder, there are redist and directx executables, run them and restart your PC.
- If you are on a laptop, you need to make sure that your are running the game using the latest drivers for your GPU.
#2 The Witcher 3 Inventory/Menu Crashes / The Witcher 3 Crash Fix
A lot of users have reported that the game crashes while they try to access menu or inventory. There are a few workarounds you can try to resolve this issue though I am not sure how some of these are effective but they seem to have fixed the problem for some:
- Try disabling Vsync from the options.
- Try running the game in borderless window.
- Try turning hardware cursor off.
- Many users had luck in fixing it after they removed the frame rate cap (unlimited) in the options.
#3 The Witcher 3 Game Crashes With Controller
Some users have reported that the game crashes while using the controller. It could very well be that your third party controller have the outdated software. Try updating the drivers for whatever controller you are using on your PC.
If that doesn’t help or you are just using Microsoft or Sony controller, you should just shift to the keyboard for now until there is a proper fix.
#4 The Witcher 3 Content Still Encrypted
If you are sure that the game is unlocked in your region, you should try verifying the integrity of your game files. If that doesn’t help, restart Steam and try again.
#5 The Witcher 3 FPS Drop, Poor Performance Fixes
If you are an Nvidia user and your hardware is good enough, you can try updating your GPU drivers which apparently are well optimized for the game.
If that doesn’t help, try disabling Nividia hairworks from the option to improve the performance. Needless to say that if your hardware is not that good, you can suffer from performance issues.
#6 The Witcher 3 GPU Related Crash Fix
If your game crashes due to your GPU (related errors), you need to make sure that the GPU is running on the default clock. If you have a factory overclocked GPU, it might also create problems.
You should change it to default clock value. I won’t recommend this for novice users as it can damage your hardware so any changes you make, do that on your own risk.
#7 The Witcher 3 Mouse Lag Fix
If your mouse is not as smooth as you might have hoped, you should enable Hardware Cursor from the options menu.
#8 The Witcher 3 Nvidia Crash Fix
If you are an Nvidia user and your are experiencing black screen and random crashes, you should try updating your GPU drivers. Make sure that you have installed the executable files from redist folder and directx folder present in your game’s directory.
Some users have reported that the latest drivers made the game worst and rolling back to the older version resolved the issue for them. I am not sure about the logic but it’s worth of a shot.
#9 The Witcher 3 Screen Tearing and Flickering
You should make sure that you are using the latest GPU drivers. Also, try toggling Vsync on/off in the menu to see if there is any improvement in performance.
#10 The Witcher 3 – How to Import Save Files/Decision from The Witcher 2
If you are struggling to get it right, we have a video for you showing how to do that. For PC, you just need to make sure that your save files are in Documents\Witcher 2\gamesaves folder.
#11 The Witcher 3 Crash Fix for 32 Bit Systems
If you are running a 32-bit OS then there are chances that you might face crashes related to memory utilization. You can fix it by following steps:
- From the start menu, open run.
- Type cmd in it.
- While your command prompt is open, you need to enter the command: bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVa 3072 (bcdedit /deletevalue
- IncreaseUserVa is for reverse).
- Restart your PC and try running your game again.
#12 The Witcher 3 Sound Lag/Stutter Fix
First thing you need to make sure is that your system is not running in power saving mode and you have selected optimum performance settings. You can also try updating your sound card drivers to resolve the issue.
#13 The Witcher 3 Freezing Fix
If your game is getting frozen randomly and you own an Nvidia card, go to manage 3D settings in Nvidia control panel and in The Witcher 3 profile, set the power mode to maximum performance. You should also be sure that you are using latest version of GPU drivers.
#14 The Witcher 3 BEX64 Error Fix
The error could very well be due to your antivirus/firewall blocking the game. Try disabling and see if the problem is resolved. If not, you can try deleting your save files in the documents folder (make a backup if you are not using cloud save) and try running the game again.
You can also try out this workaround to address the issue.
#15 The Witcher 3 – Game Crash with Dxtory
For the time being, you will have to disable tools like dxtory and fraps if you want to run the game. Let us know if you have found any workaround for it.
#16 The Witcher 3 – Game Crashes While Playing Gwent
In the White Orchard, if your game is being crashed especially when you pressing buttons to play gwent, you should make sure that you have installed both the patches for the game.
#17 The Witcher 3 – Save Import Error Fix
If you are getting an error while importing save files, your username must have some diacritics. So create a new user, and then copy the files from there.
If you come across any other issues, comment and we will try to help you out!
