Until 2019, many players are still complaining that Just Cause 3 keeps crashing on PC. Some have encountered the issue on startup while others during gameplay. The causes may be rooted in the allegedly poor optimization of Just Cause 3, or in some software/hardware malfunctions in the players’ PCs. Although the crashing problem can be hard to tackle sometimes, there’re still a few fixes you can try.
7 fixes for Just Cause 3 crashing
Here you’ll have 7 fixes to resolve the issue. They have proved useful to many players of Just Cause 3, and are relatively safe for your computer (because you don’t have to configure your registry or other critical system settings). You don’t need to try them all; just work your way down the list until you find the one that works for you.
Fix 3: Update graphics card drivers
Fix 4: Modify graphics settings
Fix 5: Verify integrity of game files
Fix 6: Resolve any software conflicts
Fix 1: Check your PC specs
As a prerequisite act, you should check your PC specs and see if they meet the basic system requirements of Just Cause 3. In case you don’t know how to check your computer spes, here’s the procedure:
1) On your keyboard, press the Windows Logo key and R at the same time to invoke the Run dialog box. Type in dxdiag and click OK.
2) In the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window, on the System tab, you’ll see the detailed information about your operating system, processor, memory, and DirectX version.
3) Go to the Display tab, then look for the information about your graphics card.
And here’s the minimum and recommended system requirements of Just Cause 3:
Minimum System Requirements
| Processor | Intel Core i5-2500k, 3.3GHz / AMD Phenom II X6 1075T 3GHz |
| Memory | 6 GB RAM |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 (2GB) / AMD Radeon HD 7870 (2GB) |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Operating System | Vista SP2 / Windows 7.1 SP1 / Windows 8.1 (64-bit Operating System Required) |
| Storage | 54 GB available space |
Recommended System Requirements
| Processor | Intel Core i7-3770, 3.4 GHz / AMD FX-8350, 4.0 GHz |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 (3GB) / AMD R9 290 (4GB) |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Operating System | Vista SP2 / Windows 7.1 SP1 / Windows 8.1 (64-bit Operating System Required) |
| Storage | 54 GB available space |
Check to see whether your PC meets the minimum or even recommended system requirements of Just Cause 3. If it does, then you should proceed to the next fix; if it doesn’t, try to upgrade your hardware devices such as replacing the current graphics card with a more powerful one (based on your actual situation, of course).
Fix 2: Update the game
Always bear in mind to download and install the latest game patches of Just Cause 3. Usually you won’t miss the updates if you play Just Cause 3 on steam because the platform will automatically update the game for you (only when it has a network connection).
Some of the game patches were released mainly to fix issues including crashing, freezing and many other errors. So when you encounter a critical problem, updating the game should be your go-to option if there’s any update you can find.
Fix 3: Update graphics card drivers
Sometimes your crashing problem in Just Cause 3 is caused by out-dated graphics card drivers. This is particularly likely when you were presented with an error message reading “DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG” (this is not the only form) right after the game crashed. If you’re not sure whether all your graphics drivers are up-to-date, you should check.
You can do this in Windows Device Manager, but Windows doesn’t always provide you with the latest drivers; you can also download the correct drivers from the manufacturers’ websites and install them step by step, but the process can be rather time-consuming and error-prone. If you don’t have the time, patience or computer skills to update your device drivers manually, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy.
Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to risk downloading and installing the wrong driver, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing. Driver Easy takes care of everything.
You can update your drivers automatically with either the FREE or the Pro version of Driver Easy. But with the Pro version it takes just 2 clicks:
1) Download and install Driver Easy.
2) Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
3) Click the Update button next to your graphics card driver to automatically download its correct version, then you can manually install it (you can do this with the FREE version).
Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system. (This requires the Pro version which comes with full support and a 30-day money back guarantee. You’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All.)
Not only does updating drivers resolve the crashing problem in some cases, it also boosts your fps in games – for example, Nvidia keeps rolling out new drivers designed for different video games (including Just Cause 3) to enhance the gaming performance of its graphics cards.
Now that you’ve updated the graphics drivers, launch the game and see whether it keeps crashing or not. If it does, move on to Fix 4.
Fix 4: Modify graphics settings
Disabling certain extras (such as Vsync) and tweaking in-game graphics settings may help you solve the crashing issue. Although this fix is more like a workaround, at least it can reduce the processing burden on your PC and thereby lower the possibility of Just Cause 3 crashing. Here’s how:
1) Launch Just Cause 3 and open the window in which you can modify your in-game graphics settings. If you’re using a low-end or mid-end computer, try to lower most of the graphics settings.
For example, you can turn off VERTICAL SYNC and ANTI ALIASING, and set TEXTURE QUALITY to Low. Anyway, you should configure these settings based on your actual situation.
2) As reported by some players, enabling SCREEN SPACE REFLECTIONS can help resolve the crashing problem.
After modifying your in-game graphics settings, wait to see whether Just Cause 3 continues to crash or not. If it does, then you should give the next fix a try.
Fix 5: Verify integrity of game files
Sometimes your crashing issue with Just Cause 3 is down to the missing or corrupt game files. If that’s the problem for you, you should use the in-built tool of Steam to verify the integrity of all game files.
1) Log in Steam and click LIBRARY.
2) Right-click on Just Cause 3, then click Properties.
3) Go to the LOCAL FILES tab and select VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME FILES….
4) Wait till the process is completed. After that, restart Steam, launch Just Cause 3, and wait to see if the crashing issue reoccurs.
If you continue to experience the crashing problem, you should proceed to the next fix below.
Fix 6: Resolve any software conflicts
Another possible culprit for your crashing issue is a software conflict. To resolve it, you need to find out the program(s) conflicting with Just Cause 3, then disable it permanently or just uninstall it.
Jump ahead to the section you’re interested in:
- Check to see if you have any software conflicts
- Find out which programs are causing them
- Disable and uninstall those programs
1. Check to see if you have any software conflicts
1) Close all the programs that are now running on your PC. To do this, switch to an opened program, and close it as you normally would (e.g. by clicking the × at the top right of the program). Shut them down one by one until all of them are closed.
If you can’t close a program in the normal way, you can still force it to close using the following steps:
I. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and X at the same time, then click Task Manager.
II. On the Processes tab, select the program that you want to shut down from the list in Task Manager and click End task to force a close. (If it’s a program you’re using, e.g. Microsoft Word, make sure you save any unsaved work first.)
2) Launch Just Cause 3 and wait to see whether it keeps crashing:
- If the game DOES crash again – It’s probably not caused by a software conflict, and you should try out other fixes.
- If the game does NOT crash – One or more of the programs you shut down is probably causing the game to crash. Now you need to identify which program(s) caused the issue, as described in Step 2 below.
2. Find out which programs are causing your conflicts
If closing all unnecessary programs stopped the game from crashing, you know that one of those programs was causing the problem. Now you just need to figure out which one.
To do this, restart one of your programs, then launch Just Cause 3 and wait to see if the game crashes. If it doesn’t, restart the next program, and wait for the crashing issue again. Then the next, and the next, and so on.
When the crashing issue eventually reoccurs, you know that the program you restarted most recently is a problem.
But bear in mind, it may not be the only problem. If you suspect there’s more than one culprit, go on performing the above steps until you figure out all the potential problems.
If you don’t really need the offending program, you can just disable or uninstall it immediately, as described below. But if you do need the offending program, you should make a choice between the program and Just Cause 3.
3. Disable or uninstall conflicting programs
Once you identify the program(s) causing the conflict, you have two options:
Jump ahead to the section you’re interested in:
To permanently disable the program:
1) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and X at the same time, then click Task Manager.
2) On the Processes tab, select the program that you want to shut down from the list in Task Manager and click End task to force a close.
3) If the program is also among the startup items, you should stop it from running at startup. Here’s how:
On your keyboard, press the Windows Logo key and R at the same time to invoke the Run dialog box. Type in msconfig and hit Enter.
4) Go to the Startup tab, and click Open Task Manager.
5) Select the programs you don’t want to start when Windows starts, then click Disable.
To uninstall the program:
1) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R at the same time. Type appwiz.cpl and press Enter.
2) In Programs and Features, right-click on the program that you want to uninstall and click Uninstall.
If, after disabling or uninstalling conflicting programs the crashing issue reoccurs, try Fix 7 below.
Fix 7: Reinstall the game
Deleting and reinstalling the game seems dumb to some players, but sometimes it does correct the crashing problem especially when the game files have been damaged or missing.
To uninstall and then reinstall Just Cause 3, here are the steps:
1) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R at the same time. Type appwiz.cpl and press Enter.
2) In the pop-up window, scroll through the list until you find Just Cause 3. Right-click on it and select Uninstall.
3) Wait until the uninstallation process is completed. Then, delete any related game files in your PC and clean up your Recycle Bin.
4) When you’re ready, reinstall Just Cause 3 again. Then launch the game and see if you continue to have the crashing problem.
Hopefully this article helped you resolve your crashing problem in Just Cause 3. If you have any follow-up questions or ideas, please feel free to leave a comment below. Thanks for reading!
