Monster Hunter Wilds Crashing and Fatal D3D Error Fix

Monster Hunter Wilds crashes on PC almost always trace back to one of four causes: running out of video memory, a GPU driver timeout under load, an overlay hooking the DirectX 12 renderer, or an unstable GPU overclock. If the game closes with a Fatal D3D error, the code in brackets tells you which one — match it in the table below and start with that fix. Capcom’s own advice is to update Windows and your graphics driver, confirm the PC meets the minimum requirements, and keep VRAM use well below your card’s limit.

Match your crash to the fix

What you see	What it means	Fix first
Fatal D3D error (... E_OUTOFMEMORY, 0x8007000E)	The game ran out of video or system memory	Bring VRAM under budget
Fatal D3D error (... DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG, 0x887A0006)	The GPU took too long on a frame and Windows reset it	Remove overclocks, then update the driver
Fatal D3D error (... DXGI_ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED, 0x887A002B)	Another program interfered with the game’s renderer	Close overlays
Crash during or right after “optimizing” shaders on first launch	Shader compile hitting a VRAM or driver limit	VRAM, then driver
Crash to desktop with no message mid-hunt	Usually VRAM or an overclock	VRAM, then overclocks
Crash only after installing mods	REFramework or another mod out of date after a patch	Test without mods

The Fatal D3D codes are standard Windows graphics errors, so the general guides also apply: DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG, DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED and out of video memory.

Fix 1 — Bring VRAM use under budget

Running out of VRAM is the most common reason Monster Hunter Wilds crashes. The RE Engine streams the large open biomes continuously, and when textures and effects outgrow your graphics card’s memory, the game either stutters badly or closes with an E_OUTOFMEMORY Fatal D3D error. Capcom has advised players with 12 GB of VRAM or less to keep the game’s VRAM use below about 8 GB, and even 16 GB cards to stay around half of capacity for stability.

1. Open Options → Graphics and watch the VRAM usage bar as you change settings.
2. Lower Texture Quality first: Medium on 8 GB cards, High on 12 GB cards.
3. Uninstall the High-Resolution Texture Pack unless you have a 16 GB card. It is a free optional DLC that Capcom lists as needing 16 GB of graphics memory, and its store page warns the game can become unstable on smaller cards whatever Texture Quality you pick while it is installed — lowering the setting is not enough. Untick it under the game’s DLC list in Steam (Properties → DLC) and use the regular High textures instead.
4. Turn ray tracing off if it is on — it adds memory as well as GPU load.
5. Close browsers and launchers you don’t need. Capcom’s minimum and recommended specs both list 16 GB of system RAM, and the game spills into system memory when VRAM fills.

Capcom’s official targets give a sense of the headroom: the recommended spec (RTX 2060 Super or RX 6600, 8 GB) is rated for 1080p at 60 FPS with frame generation on Medium. Running High or the texture pack on that class of card is above what Capcom designed for. Our Monster Hunter Wilds settings guide has a full VRAM-matched preset.

Fix 2 — Close overlays and capture tools

DXGI_ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED (0x887A002B) means a program other than the game touched its DirectX 12 rendering resources — overlays and capture tools are the usual cause. Each overlay injects into the game’s render path, and Monster Hunter Wilds is sensitive to it.

• Turn off the Steam overlay for Monster Hunter Wilds: right-click the game in Steam → Properties → General → untick Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game. Players on NVIDIA cards have repeatedly traced launch crashes to it.
• Close MSI Afterburner and RivaTuner, Discord’s overlay, Overwolf, Medal and other capture tools while testing.
• Disable the NVIDIA app overlay or AMD Adrenalin overlay if you have them on.

If the game runs cleanly with everything closed, re-enable tools one at a time to find the one that crashes it.

Fix 3 — Update or clean-install the GPU driver

A stale or half-updated driver is the second most common cause of DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG crashes, and Capcom’s first troubleshooting step is to update it.

1. Install the newest Game Ready (NVIDIA) or Adrenalin (AMD) driver.
2. If you’ve been through several driver updates, do a clean install with Display Driver Uninstaller in Safe Mode first.
3. Let the game re-optimize its shaders on the next launch and wait for it to finish before loading a hunt.
4. If crashes started right after a driver update, roll back one version and test.

Run Windows Update as well — Capcom lists missing system updates alongside drivers.

Fix 4 — Remove GPU overclocks and undervolts

A GPU overclock that is stable in other games can still crash Monster Hunter Wilds because the game pushes the GPU hard during shader compilation and in dense biomes. A DEVICE_HUNG crash means the GPU didn’t finish its work in time, which is exactly what marginal clocks cause.

• Reset MSI Afterburner, the NVIDIA app or Adrenalin tuning to default clocks, voltage and power limit.
• Players with factory-overclocked cards report that a small negative core-clock offset stopped their crashes — test one if default settings still crash.
• Check temperatures with an overlay — a GPU hitting its thermal limit can hang the same way.

Overclocks on the CPU and memory (XMP/EXPO) can also cause crashes; if removing the GPU overclock doesn’t help, test with XMP off once to rule it out.

Fix 5 — Test without mods

Mods that hook the engine, especially REFramework, break after game patches until they are updated. A crash on launch right after a Monster Hunter Wilds update is often an outdated mod.

1. Move dinput8.dll (REFramework’s loader) and any mod folders out of the game folder.
2. Launch the game clean. If it runs, update each mod before reinstalling it.

Fix 6 — Verify files and check the install

• In Steam, right-click Monster Hunter Wilds → Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity of game files.
• Capcom lists an SSD as required. If the game is on a hard drive, move it — slow streaming can cause both hitching and load-related crashes.
• Make sure the drive has free space for the shader cache to rebuild.

About the -force-d3d11 launch option

Many guides suggest adding -force-d3d11 to Steam’s launch options. This is not an official Capcom fix — the game is listed as DirectX 12, and players report mixed results. Work through the fixes above first. If you test it as a last resort and the game becomes slower or less stable, remove it.

Summary

Most Monster Hunter Wilds crashes are fixed by bringing VRAM use under budget (lower Texture Quality, drop the High-Resolution Texture Pack on cards under 16 GB), closing overlays, updating the GPU driver, and removing overclocks. Read the code in any Fatal D3D error first — it points straight at the cause. For stutter rather than crashes, see the Monster Hunter Wilds stuttering fix.

Related guides

• Monster Hunter Wilds Stuttering Fix
• Monster Hunter Wilds Optimization Guide: Best Settings
• DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG Fix
• Out of Video Memory Error Fix
• How to Show an FPS Overlay in Any Game