Elden Ring Nightreign offers a fast-paced take on the original game's mechanics, and while visually similar, PC players are encountering significant performance issues, most notably complete game freezes that can lead to being kicked from sessions. Bandai Namco has acknowledged these problems, particularly for users with the "latest graphics cards," indicating frame rate drops and potential links to stuttering issues. Players on Steam forums have specifically pointed to NVIDIA RTX 40 and 50-series graphics cards as experiencing these freezes.
While a permanent developer fix is in the works, several potential solutions can help mitigate these freezing issues.
What's Causing the Elden Ring Nightreign Freezing Issues?
It's clear that the freezing issues are not isolated incidents but rather widespread, affecting a broad range of PC setups, especially those with newer NVIDIA GPUs. Bandai Namco has confirmed they are "investigating the cause" of these performance problems. The prevalence of these issues across various configurations strongly suggests that the root cause lies within the game's optimization, rather than individual player hardware or software conflicts.
How to Fix Freezing in Elden Ring Nightreign on PC
Here are several potential solutions, including those recommended by Bandai Namco and others discovered by players:
1. Verify Integrity of Game Files
This is often a crucial first step for many PC game issues. It ensures that no game files are corrupted or missing, which can lead to instability.
- Steps:
- Right-click on Elden Ring Nightreign in your Steam library.
- Go to Properties.
- Select 'Installed Files' from the left sidebar.
- Click 'Verify Integrity of Game Files.'
- Note: This process might take some time as Steam checks and potentially redownloads files. Relaunch the game after completion. This step is also advised if the game is failing to launch.
2. Change Graphics Settings
Bandai Namco explicitly suggests adjusting in-game graphics settings. Lowering visual fidelity can reduce the strain on your GPU and CPU, potentially preventing freezes.
- Steps:
- Open the Settings menu within Elden Ring Nightreign.
- Navigate to 'Graphics' at the bottom of the sidebar.
- Toggle the graphical settings from the default 'High' option to either 'Medium' or 'Low'.
- Bandai Namco also recommends lowering the screen resolution if simply reducing graphics settings doesn't resolve the issue.
- Note: While this might compromise the game's visual appeal, it can be a worthwhile sacrifice if it eliminates freezing. Steam Deck players should also lower settings as much as possible.
3. Check for the Latest Graphics Card Drivers
Keeping your graphics drivers updated is essential for optimal game performance, especially with new releases.
- Steps:
- NVIDIA users: Open the NVIDIA app (GeForce Experience), go to the 'Drivers' tab, and check for available updates. A clear banner will indicate if a new version is ready.
- AMD users: Open the AMD app (Radeon Software), go to the 'Home' screen, where your 'Current Version' and 'Status' for your driver will be listed in thetop right corner.
- Note: Most graphics card manufacturers release new drivers around the time ofmajor game launches to ensure compatibility and performance. Some users have reported success with specific older "stable" driverversions, such as NVIDIA driver version 566.36, if the latest ones prove problematic. This would involve a clean installation of the older driver.
4. Use Task Manager
Some players on Steam forums have reported a temporary workaround involving the Task Manager.
- Method:
- During gameplay, when the game begins to freeze, press Ctrl + Alt + Esc (or Ctrl + Shift + Esc) to open the Task Manager.
- Note: This is not a permanent solution and may require repeated applicationthroughout your session. While disruptive, it might allow you tocontinue playing until a more stable fix is released.
5. Additional Player-Reported Solutions (More Advanced)
Some users have found success with less conventional methods:
- Borderless Windowed Mode: In some cases, changing the game's display mode from Fullscreen toBorderless Windowed within the graphics settings has resolved freezingand stuttering. If it doesn't work immediately, try restarting the game.
- CPU Power Management Settings (Windows): Some players reported that changing the "Maximum processor state" inWindows Power Options from 100% to 99% (under 'Processor powermanagement' > 'Maximum processor state') helped reduce freezes. Thiseffectively disables CPU turbo-boosting, which might be interactingnegatively with the game.
- Disabling Hyper-threading/SMT (BIOS): A few users reported that disabling Hyper-threading (Intel CPUs) orSimultaneous Multithreading (SMT) (AMD CPUs) in their motherboard's BIOS resolved stuttering and freezing. This is an advanced setting andshould only be attempted if you are comfortable with BIOS adjustments.
- Checking for Anti-Cheat Conflicts: There are anecdotal reports that the game's anti-cheat (Easy Anti-Cheat - EAC) might be conflicting with certain background applications orhardware monitoring tools, leading to crashes or freezes. Trying toclose all non-essential background applications before launching thegame might help.
If none of these solutions resolve the freezing issue, the unfortunatereality is that you may need to wait for a patch from the developmentteam. Bandai Namco has confirmed their investigation, so a fix is likely to be rolled out as soon as the cause is identified.
Platform(s): PlayStation 4 PS4, PlayStation 5 PS5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Genre(s): Action role-playing, roguelike
Developer(s): FromSoftware
Publisher(s): Bandai Namco Entertainment
Mode: Single-player, multiplayer
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