J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World universe is the basis for Hogwarts Legacy. You can learn more about Rowling's history of transphobic remarks here, as well as resources to help LGBTQ organizations.
Early Access players have been raving about the game since it was released on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on February 10th. Unfortunately, those who played the game early on PC discovered that it had some minor performance issues.
Here are a few things you can do to resolve common problems if you're already playing Hogwarts Legacy on PC.
The Performance Issues in Hogwarts Legacy Are How Common?
The PC version of Hogwarts Legacy is currently experiencing a number of performance issues. Most players are experiencing some kind of frame rate issues, occasional crashes, and general difficulties that prevent them from optimally playing the game on even high-end computers, although it's not the worst case of PC performance issues we've ever seen (it's possible to run the game on PC at max settings with only minor performance issues).
If you’re here, you likely already know this. Before we dive into other possibilities, here are a few things to keep in mind:
– Hogwarts Legacy is still in its Early Access stage. It's highly probable that the game's Day One patch (and other early upgrades) will address many early performance issues.
The Hogwarts Legacy team previously discussed the game's minimum and maximum PC system requirements. While even gamers with maxed-out gaming PCs may encounter difficulties, please ensure that your PC meets the game's specifications and exceeds as many as possible.
– There is no single universal remedy for Hogwarts Legacy's present PC performance problems. Major changes will come from the game's designers (if they arrive), however. There are a few things you can do to at least minimally improve the game's performance.
Here's a look at some of the most common PC problems encountered in Hogwarts Legacy.
How to Fix Frame Rate Drops and Stuttering on PC in Hogwarts Legacy
Many Hogwarts Legacy PC players are reporting that they don't experience frame drops/stuttering issues until they actually reach Hogwarts. The intro part of the game appears to be fairly efficient. As such, you may want to wait until you reach Hogwarts before assessing how well your game is running.
There are a couple of solutions if you are experiencing performance difficulties at that time.
V-Sync may be the culprit. If you are above the minimum PC requirements in every major area (and had no difficulty running the instruction portion of the game), please disable it in-game and enable it via your GPU control panel (if that option is available to you). It's highly recommended that you restart your game once you have changed these (or any other) settings.
If you continue to notice significant frame drops and stuttering, then you'll need to look deeper. Some users on Reddit, Steam, and elsewhere have stated that their DLSS versions were the cause of frame rate issues. Others have stated that they needed to manually update their DLSS versions to find the one that worked for them.
Ray Tracing seems to be a common issue at the moment. For a game like this, it's unfortunate to have to disable it. It's possible to just turn off Ray Tracing (and all associated functions) and fix most performance difficulties.
If none of this works (or your PC just barely meets performance requirements), then you'll need to start tweaking the game's graphical settings. Most likely, you'll be able to reduce a few settings (mostnotably Shadow, Sky, Foliage, Texture, and Fog Quality) to Medium or Low. If performance issues persist, however, you'll need to continue tweaking them.
This Reddit user has included a set of steps that might help you resolve all of your performance issues. I would recommend you try some of the above steps first (especially on high-end computers). This method appears to be safe, but tests vary on how effective it is.
How to Fix PC Crashes in Hogwarts Legacy
It's possible that your Hogwarts Legacy PC crashes are linked to one of the previously mentioned performance issues. If you are able to improve the game's overall performance, then you may be able to correct some performance-based crashing issues. As such, please start with the options discussed above before you try any other methods.
Unfortunately, Hogwarts Legacy appears to have crashing issues that go beyond simple performance issues. If the game keeps crashing on you after you've optimized performance, please try the following simple steps:
– Restart your computer.
Make sure your graphics driver is up-to-date.
– Verify game files by right-clicking on the game in your library, selecting "Properties," selecting "Local Files," and clicking on "Verify Game Files."
– Disable GPU Overlocking.
– Try reinstalling the game (especially if you haven't made much progress yet).
If none of these basic steps worked, then you might be looking at a few other common crash issues.
The first concern is how the game manages its VRAM during the start-up process. If your game keeps crashing near the start, it may be because your PC is overburdened with unnecessary VRAM. If that is the case, then this Reddit user may have discovered a temporary fix that should at least allow you to get back into the game.
Another common crash symptom is Video Scaling. If you disable Video Scaling, you may be able to at least temporarily correct some common problems that start early in the game.
The majority of crashes reported by players are attributed to general performance issues as well as a lack of necessary updates. If your PC is clearly powerful enough to execute the game, then some combination of the above methods should resolve most of the commonly cited issues. However, you may be stuck waiting for official updates before you can properly resolve current performance issues.