The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Freezing & Crashing: How to Fix
Are you facing freezes while playing The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt? Follow our steps and get back to your game in no time! 🤖
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The game is the third in the series, and developers said that it’s not necessary to have played the previous games to enjoy Wild Hunt fully. Because the game is mainly developed for consoles, it has some bugs and issues that people are complaining about on Steam’s Dashboard of the game.
The major The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt issues affecting players are random crashes, freezes, black screens, and performance issues.
In this article, we’ll look out why Witcher 3 freezes and how to fix it in no time.
Why does Witcher 3 keep freezing and crashing?
There are several reasons that can explain why your Witcher game is freezing. To discover them, quickly check the list below:
- Outdated drivers – If your graphics card drivers are out of date, you can experience issues such as freezing or crashing while trying to play your favorite masterpieces.
- RAM-related issues – In case your computer does not have enough RAM, Witcher might frequently freeze. We recommend checking if your system meets the minimum requirements for running this game.
- Corrupted game files – It is important to sometimes verify your game files, just so you ensure that are not corrupted.
- Wrong graphics settings – In some cases, you’ll need to lower your in-game graphics settings.
- Conflicting apps/programs – Other software on your computer, such as antivirus or firewall software, may interact with the game. You can try to temporarily disable them.
How can I fix The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt freezing?
Keep in mind that it is always a good idea to first verify if your system meets at least the game’s minimum specifications. In case your PC is not supporting these, you might experience annoying issues, such as game freezing errors.
Table of contents:
- Update your graphics card driver
- Verify the integrity of game files
- Disable background apps
- Adjust graphics settings
- Temporarily disable your antivirus software
1. Update your graphics card driver
Time needed: 4 minutes
Updating your graphics card driver to the latest version is the most efficient solution you can try in case of experiencing freezing issues.
- Press simultaneously on the Windows and X keys on your keyboard.
- Navigate to Device Manager.
- Search for the Display Adapters section, then double-click on it.
- Once the section is expanded, look for your graphics card driver, then right-click on it. Then, choose to Update driver.
- Now, go for the Search automatically for drivers option.
- Wait a couple of minutes until the downloading and installing process is finished.
- Restart your PC and check if you managed to get rid of The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt freezing issue.
In order to save much more of your time, we strongly recommend avoiding the manual steps, by using an automatic tool to update your drivers instead.
PC HelpSoft is one of the most popular software on the market, that will automatically scan for outdated or missing drivers, then update them in no time.
Plus, if you choose to use it, you won’t have to worry about not being able to find the latest version for your component. PC HelpSoft comes with a massive database from where it can identify the perfect option.
In case you’re a beginner, have no fear! PC HelpSoft is easy to use and intuitive, so you don’t need to be an expert to understand its interface.
2. Verify the integrity of game files
- Open your Steam client.
- Navigate to Library.
- Look at the list shown in the left window pane, then right-click on our today’s game, then click on its Properties.
- Go to Local Files.
- Choose to Verify the integrity of game files.
- After the process is completed. relaunch Steam, then try to see if The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt is still freezing.
3. Disable background apps
- Hit the Windows key, type Task Manager, then open the first result.
- Make sure you’re in the Processes tab.
- Look for any app/program you don’t necessarily need, then click on it, and choose to End task.
- Repeat the process for all the apps/programs you don’t need.
- Launch the game and check if the issue is gone.
4. Adjust graphics settings
- Open the game, then go to Options.
- Now, navigate to Display.
- From the Display menu, choose Graphics.
- Now, adjust all the settings by turning them On or Off.
5. Temporarily disable your antivirus software
When experiencing game freezes, temporarily disabling antivirus software can be a troubleshooting step because some antivirus programs may interfere with the game’s performance.
Antivirus software is intended to safeguard your computer against dangerous software and other dangers.
It may scan game files in real-time or conduct background activities that use system resources and cause game freezes.
What is the chance to freeze Witcher?
Freeze is one of the critical effects demonstrated by a few weapons in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The following is a list of all things that affect the likelihood of freezing an opponent on a hit.
| Name | Availability | Type | Effects |
| Addan Deith | Main campaign | Silver Sword | +3 – 10% Aard Sign intensity +3 – 10% Axii Sign intensity +10 – 25% Critical hit damage bonus +1 – 4% Critical hit chance +1% Chance to freeze |
| Ashrune | Main campaign | Steel Sword | +1 – 5% Critical hit damage bonus +5% Chance to freeze +1 – 3% Chance to dismember +1 – 2% Bonus experience from humans and nonhumans |
| Carabella | Main campaign | Steel Sword | +5 – 14% Critical hit chance +2% Chance to freeze |
| Deithwen (sword) | Main campaign | Silver Sword | +5 – 20 Frost damage +1% Chance to freeze |
| Greater Zoria runestone | Main campaign | Upgrade | +5% Chance to freeze |
| Gwestog | Main campaign | Steel Sword | +2 – 10% Quen Sign intensity +2% Chance to freeze +4 – 10% Chance to dismember |
| Lesser Zoria runestone | Main campaign | Upgrade | +2% Chance to freeze |
| Lune | Main campaign | Steel Sword | +5 – 8% Aard Sign intensity +4% Chance to freeze |
| Moonblade | Main campaign | Silver Sword | +1 – 5% Yrden Sign intensity +10 – 15% Critical hit damage bonus +1 – 5% Critical hit chance +1% Chance to freeze |
| Reach of the Damned | Main campaign | Silver Sword | +2 – 10% Quen Sign intensity +3 – 20% Axii Sign intensity +13% Chance to freeze +2 – 10% Chance to dismember |
| Tlareg | Main campaign | Silver Sword | +2 – 20% Igni Sign intensity +12% Chance to freeze +1% Bonus experience from monsters |
| Tor Zireael (sword) | Main campaign | Silver Sword | +20 – 25% Igni Sign intensity +5 – 15% Quen Sign intensity +20% Chance to freeze +1 – 2% Chance for instant kill |
| Wild Hunt warrior’s sword | Main campaign | Steel Sword | +25% Critical hit damage bonus +1% Chance to freeze |
| Wild Hunt warrior’s sword (magic) | Main campaign | Steel Sword | +25% Critical hit damage bonus +1% Chance to freeze +2 random item effects |
| Wild Hunt warrior’s sword (master) | Main campaign | Steel Sword | +1 random item effects |
| Wild Hunt warrior’s sword – enhanced (magic) | Main campaign | Steel Sword | +25% Critical hit damage bonus +2% Chance to freeze +2 random item effects |
| Wild Hunt warrior’s sword – enhanced (master) | Main campaign | Steel Sword | +25% Critical hit damage bonus +2% Chance to freeze +1 random item effects |
| Wild Hunt warrior’s sword – mastercrafted | Main campaign | Steel Sword | +50% Critical hit damage bonus +5% Chance to freeze |
Wild Hunt warrior’s sword – mastercrafted (magic) | Main campaign | Steel Sword | +50% Critical hit damage bonus +5% Chance to freeze +2 random item effects |
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We hope that our guide helped you fix The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt freezing issue without effort.
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