[SOLVED] Dune: Awakening Crashing on PC

Dune: Awakening crashing on launch? Freezing mid-game? You’re not alone. These frustrating stability issues are common in new Unreal Engine 5 titles and they’re often caused by the following factors:

• Graphics driver conflicts (especially outdated or problematic NVIDIA drivers)
• Windows system update and GPU scheduling issues
• CPU/hardware issues, particularly on Intel 13/14th-gen systems
• Shader compilation overload during initial runs
• Background apps or aggressive overclocking

The good news? Most are fixable. This guide delivers proven, step-by-step solutions to stabilize your game so you can get back to surviving Arrakis without interruptions.

Try These Fixes

You may not need to try them all; simply work your way down the list until your find the one that works for you.

1. Update Your Graphics Driver
2. Download and Install Windows Updates
3. Verify Integrity of Game Files
4. Disable Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling
5. Stop Overclocking
6. Limit CPU Usage
7. Clear Shader Cache
8. Adjust Virtual Memory Settings

1. Update Your Graphics Driver

Outdated or buggy GPU drivers are a leading cause of crashes in modern games. Dune: Awakening leverages Unreal Engine 5’s advanced rendering, meaning it requires the latest optimizations from NVIDIA or AMD.

For NVIDIA users, a specific hotfix (576.66) was released to address stability issues in Dune: Awakening and other games. So you should try downloading and installing it for your system. For users with graphics cards manufactured by AMD, simply go to their driver download page to download and install the latest graphics driver.

However, manually updating drivers can be tedious, especially if you’re not tech-savvy. For hassle-free updates, try Driver Easy, a powerful tool that scans your system for outdated or missing drivers, then downloads and installs the latest versions automatically. All drivers are verified, sourced directly from manufacturers, and 100% safe. You can even choose specific versions to install or roll back problematic updates with a single click.

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. Check if your graphics driver is flagged in the scan results. If it is, click Activate & Update to start a 7-day free trial or upgrade to Driver Easy Pro. Either option will automatically download and install the latest drivers for you.
   
4. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect. If you need any assistance while using Driver Easy, feel free to contact our support team at support@drivereasy.com.
5. Check if you can start the game. If it still crashes or greets you with the error, try other fixes below.

2. Download and Install Windows Updates

Outdated Windows versions can cause game freezes, crashes, or compatibility issues with Dune: Awakening, especially on Windows 11 24H2 (which requires specific patches for stability). Funcom also recommends ensuring your OS is up-to-date to avoid CPU-related freezes.

First, you should check your current Windows version:

1. Press Win + R to invoke the Run box. Type winver and hit Enter.
   
2. From here you should be able to see your Windows version.
   

Now manually install critical updates:

1. Press the Windows logo key to invoke Search. Then type check for updates, and Check for updates from the list of results.
   
2. In the section of More options, click Advanced options.
   
3. In the section of Additional options, click Optional updates.
   
4. Check the box next to KB5058499 and click Download & install.
   
5. Wait for the updates to be installed successfully. Once finished, you should be required to restart your device. Then you can relaunch your game and check if that solves your issues.

3. Verify Integrity of Game Files

Corrupted or missing game files can cause crashes. Verifying integrity ensures all game data is intact:

1. On Steam, go to LIBRARY, right-click Dune: Awakening and select Properties.
   
2. Select Installed Files, then execute Verify Integrity of Game Files. Then wait for Steam to scan and repair your installation, which may take a few minutes.
   
3. Relaunch Steam and try to start your game. If the above steps won’t give you luck, try the next fix below.

4. Disable Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling

Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS) is a Windows feature designed to reduce rendering latency by allowing the GPU to directly manage its memory. However, in Dune: Awakening and other Unreal Engine 5 titles, this can cause some performance issues. So you may want to disable it by following the steps below.

1. Press Win + I simultaneously to open Settings.
2. Navigate to System > Display.
   
3. Scroll down to Related settings and click on Graphics.
   
4. Click Change default graphics settings.
   
5. In the Graphics Settings window, toggle the Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling option to Off.
   

5. Stop Overclocking

Overclocking your CPU or GPU can push core speeds and voltages beyond factory settings to squeeze out more FPS. But Dune: Awakening is already resource-intensive, and excess clocking can cause system instability, memory errors, or sudden crashes/freezes — especially during shader compilation or heavy gameplay.

To eliminate the issues, you should undo the overclocking.

6. Limit CPU Usage

During shader compilation at startup, Unreal Engine 5 in Dune: Awakening can overwhelm your CPU — especially with high-frequency Intel 13th/14th-gen CPUs—leading to freezes, crashes, and even “Out of video memory” errors.

Funcom’s official support recommends enabling the Limit Process CPU Usage mode. If it can’t be toggled in-game, you can still enforce it manually via the Game.ini file:

1. Navigate to the following folder on your PC: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\DuneSandbox\Saved\Config\WindowsClient\.
2. Find and open Game.ini using Notepad or any text editor.
3. In the file, look for the section: [Settings.Video]. Under it, ensure you have the following line:
   LimitProcessCpuUsage=1
4. If the line exists, make sure it’s set to 1.
   If it doesn’t exist, simply add it under [Settings.Video].
5. Save and close the file. This will force the game to reserve extra CPU resources for shader compilation each time it starts — a small performance trade‑off for much greater stability

If your issues persist after applying these changes, proceed to the next fix.

7. Clear Shader Cache

Corrupted shader cache files can cause crashes during compilation, and clearing it can possibly be helpful:

NVIDIA

1. Open the NVIDIA App.
2. Go to Graphics > Global Settings, and set Shader Cache Size to Disabled.
   
3. Close the NVIDIA App and reboot your PC.
4. After the PC boots, press Win + R to invoke the Run box. Type or paste the following environment variable into the box or the File Explorer address bar and hit Enter:
   %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\NVIDIA\DXCache
5. Delete all the items in the folders.
6. Exit File Explorer and go back to the NVIDIA App and set the Shader Cache Size to 10GB or larger.
7. Once done, restart your PC.

AMD

1. Open your AMD Software.
2. Go to Gaming > Graphics. Then expand the Advanced section.
   
3. Click the Perform Reset button next to Reset Shader Cache.
   
4. Close it and reboot your PC. If you’re still bothered by constant crashes, try the next fix below.

8. Adjust Virtual Memory Settings

If you’ve tried the aforementioned methods and Dune: Awakening is still crashing, adjusting your virtual memory settings might help. Essentially, virtual memory uses a portion of your storage drive to supplement your physical RAM, which can prevent crashes when your system runs out of available memory. However, this is an advanced step and should only be attempted if you’re comfortable making system-level changes.

1. Press the Windows logo key to invoke Search. Then type check for updates, and Check for updates from the list of results.
   
2. Select the Advanced tab. Under the Performance section, click on Settings….
   
3. Under the Advanced tab, find the Virtual memory section and click on Change….
   
4. Uncheck the box labeled Automatically manage paging file size for all drives. Select the drive where your operating system is installed (usually C:). Tick the option Custom size, then enter an Initial size (MB) and a Maximum size (MB). The paging file should be a minimum of 1.5 times the size of your installed RAM, and a maximum of 3 times your RAM size.
   
5. After making these changes, restart your PC and then launch Dune: Awakening and test your gameplay.

Final Thoughts

That wraps up our complete guide to stopping game crashes, freezes, and “Out of video memory” error in Dune: Awakening. While these solutions resolve issues for many players, it’s essential to understand that no single fix works for everyone. Some problems may stem from some specific system setups or deeper compatibility challenges within Dune’s current build.

Funcom has acknowledged several known issues and is actively working on additional stability patches — recent updates (like 1.1.0.7 to 1.1.0.11) include server and client fixes aimed at improving stability.