Marvel Rivals Crashing on PC: Fix Every Crash Type

Marvel Rivals crashing on PC almost always comes from one of four things: an “Out of video memory” error while shaders compile or maps load, a DirectX 12 GPU crash such as D3D device lost, a shader-decompression crash on an unstable CPU (usually Intel 13th/14th Gen), or a silent crash from overlays and memory instability — and the error you see, or don’t see, tells you which one to fix first. Match your symptom in the table below, then work only that section.

Won’t launch at all, or an anti-cheat message? That is a different problem with its own guide: Marvel Rivals anti-cheat error fix.

Match your crash to the fix

What you see	Most likely cause	Go to
Out of video memory trying to allocate a rendering resource	VRAM spike during shader compile or map load, driver, or background apps	Fix 1
Fatal error naming D3D device lost, DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG or DEVICE_REMOVED	The GPU stopped responding in DirectX 12 (driver, overclock, undervolt)	Fix 2
Could not decompress shader group with Oodle, or crashes only while shaders compile	CPU instability — most often Intel Core 13th/14th Gen	Fix 3
Crash to desktop, no error at all	Overlays, memory (XMP/EXPO) instability, damaged files	Fix 4
Anti-cheat error or nothing happens when you click Play	NetEase anti-cheat didn’t initialise	Anti-cheat guide

Fix 1 — Out of video memory

Marvel Rivals is an Unreal Engine 5 game, and its most common crash message is Out of video memory trying to allocate a rendering resource. Make sure your video card has the minimum required memory, try lowering the resolution and/or closing other applications that are running. Exiting... It regularly hits cards with plenty of VRAM, because the spike happens during shader compilation or a map load rather than during normal play.

1. Update your GPU driver. If the crash began right after a driver update, clean-install with DDU and try the previous version.
2. Close other GPU users before launching — browsers with hardware acceleration, video playback, recording software and a second game launcher all hold VRAM.
3. Lower Texture Quality one step (Ultra → High, or High → Medium on 6–8 GB cards). Textures are the setting that actually fills VRAM; most other settings barely move it.
4. Let shaders finish. After a patch, wait on the shader-compilation screen until it completes instead of queueing straight into a match.
5. If it only crashes on the shader screen: the workaround players report most often is compatibility mode. In Steam, right-click Marvel Rivals → Manage → Browse local files, right-click MarvelRivals_Launcher.exe → Properties → Compatibility, tick Run this program in compatibility mode for and pick Windows 8. Launch once, let the shaders complete, then untick it again — it is a one-time workaround, not a setting to leave on.

The Windows-wide causes, including a too-small page file, are covered in the out of video memory error fix.

Fix 2 — D3D device lost and DXGI errors

When the fatal-error window names D3D device lost, DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG or DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED, Windows stopped waiting on the graphics card and reset the driver. It almost never means the GPU is failing; something about clocks, drivers or power is marginal.

1. Remove every GPU overclock and undervolt — MSI Afterburner curves, AMD Adrenalin tuning and factory “OC mode” profiles included. Unreal Engine 5 exposes clocks that pass other games.
2. Clean-install the driver with DDU.
3. Laptops: force the dedicated GPU. Settings → System → Display → Graphics, add Marvel Rivals and set it to High performance.
4. Treat -dx11 as a test only. Marvel Rivals lists DirectX 12 as a requirement, and players report that adding -dx11 to Steam’s launch options can itself trigger a fatal RHI error that stops the game loading. If it makes things worse, remove it straight away.

Each code has its own deeper guide: DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG, DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED and the Unreal-wide D3D device lost crash, which also covers the TdrDelay registry workaround.

Fix 3 — Oodle shader crashes (CPU stability)

Could not decompress shader group with Oodle means the CPU returned a corrupt result while unpacking the game’s shaders. Reinstalling alone rarely fixes it, because the files were fine — the processor wasn’t. It is reported most often on Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen CPUs, which have a documented instability issue.

1. Update your motherboard BIOS to the latest version. Intel delivered its microcode fix for 13th/14th Gen instability through motherboard BIOS updates.
2. Load Intel default power settings. Turn off motherboard boost features such as Multi-Core Enhancement and any CPU overclock. Players who fixed this crash commonly did it by removing out-of-spec power limits.
3. Verify the game files afterwards (Steam: Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity of game files) so any shader data written while unstable is replaced.

If other games also crash randomly, the 0xc0000005 access violation guide walks through confirming CPU or memory instability.

Fix 4 — Silent crashes: overlays, files and memory

A crash to desktop with no error window usually isn’t the GPU — DirectX failures name themselves.

1. Close overlays and hooks while testing — Discord, Steam, NVIDIA app and AMD overlays, MSI Afterburner/RTSS, RGB and fan-control software. Re-enable them one at a time once the game is stable.
2. Verify the game files. Most crashes that start right after a patch are a damaged download.
3. Check the config file isn’t read-only. Open C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Local\Marvel\Saved\Config\Windows, right-click GameUserSettings.ini → Properties, and untick Read-only if a tweak guide set it. Deleting the file resets graphics settings to defaults.
4. Disable XMP/EXPO as a test. An overclocked memory profile can pass everyday use and still crash Unreal Engine 5. If that fixes it, re-enable it at a slightly lower speed — see how to enable XMP or EXPO for where the setting lives.
5. Clear old crash dumps. AppData\Local\Marvel\Saved\Crashes can grow to several gigabytes; a full system drive causes its own crashes.

Check the basics

Marvel Rivals’ Steam listing asks for 16 GB of RAM even at minimum, DirectX 12, 70 GB of storage and an SSD recommended. The recommended GPU is an RTX 2060 (Super), RX 5700 XT or Arc A750. A PC below that is far more likely to hit the video-memory crash — see the Marvel Rivals system requirements for the full table.

Requirement	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	Core i5-6600K / Ryzen 5 1600X	Core i5-10400 / Ryzen 5 5600X
RAM	16 GB	16 GB
GPU	GTX 1060 / RX 580 / Arc A380	RTX 2060 (Super) / RX 5700 XT / Arc A750
Storage	70 GB, SSD recommended	70 GB, SSD recommended

Once it stops crashing

Stable but hitching? That’s a different problem — see the Marvel Rivals stuttering fix, then tune with the best Marvel Rivals settings for FPS. For smoother frame pacing underneath, the timer resolution guide covers the Windows scheduling layer.

Related: Marvel Rivals DLSS, FSR and frame generation settings · Fortnite crashing fix · Arc Raiders crashing fix