Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023) is a first-person shooter developed by Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision. It serves as the third entry in the rebooted Modern Warfare sub-series and the twentieth installment in the Call of Duty franchise. The game features a wide range of content, including new maps, ground war modes, weapons, equipment, operators, and more.
As with most newly released titles, however, Modern Warfare 3 is not without its share of issues. Currently, many players are reporting the game crashing on PC, making it one of the more frustrating problems.
According to reports, crashes can occur while loading into the game or even during active gameplay sessions.
The crashing issue on PC can be triggered by several factors, such as:
Hardware incompatibility
Outdated Windows build
Other system-related conflicts
The good news is that this is a common issue among gamers, and there are multiple troubleshooting steps you can follow to resolve it.
Fix: Modern Warfare 3 Crashing on PC
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 is in full swing as COD players are having fun across all platforms. Unfortunately, it become a tradition to encounter crashing issues on the PC version in most cases. Crashes basically ruin the overall gaming experience while launching the title or connecting to matchmaking. Luckily, here we’ve shared with you a couple of possible workarounds that should come in handy. Make sure to follow all methods until the issue gets fixed. So, without further ado, let’s jump into it.
1. Restart the PC
Before performing any other workarounds, you should always restart your PC to refresh the system because sometimes temporary glitches or cache data can trigger game-launching issues. As rebooting the system doesn’t take that time, you should try it.
2. Check the MW3 System Requirements
You should also check for the Modern Warfare III system requirements to ensure there is no compatibility issue present on your computer or not. If the hardware or software seems incompatible with running the MW3 game then check below.
Minimum Specs:
- OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update)
- CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 / AMD Ryzen 5 1600
- RAM: 12 GB
- Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 / GeForce GTX 1650 / AMD Radeon RX 480
- Video Memory: 3 GB
- Storage Space: SSD with 65 GB available space (25 GB with COD HQ downloaded)
Recommended Specs:
- OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update) or Windows 11 64 Bit (latest update)
- CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 / AMD Ryzen 5 1600
- RAM: 16 GB
- Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 / GeForce RTX 3050 / AMD Radeon RX Vega
- Video Memory: 6 GB
- Storage Space: SSD with 65 GB available space (25 GB with COD HQ downloaded)
3. Run MW3 as an Administrator
Ensure to run the Modern Warfare III executable application as an administrator on the PC by following the steps below to ensure there is no conflict with the system permissions while running the game.
- Go to the installed game directory on the PC.
- Right-click on the COD MWIII.exe application file.
- Click on Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.
- Click on the Run this program as an administrator checkbox to enable it.
- Once done, click on Apply and then OK to save changes.
4. Update Call of Duty Modern Warfare III
It’s always recommended to check for the Call of Duty Modern Warfare III game update on your PC manually by following the steps below. An outdated game patch version might trigger several issues with the game’s launching.
Battle.net:
- Open the Battle.net client.
- Select Modern Warfare III from the library.
- Click on the cog wheel icon next to the game.
- Click on Check for Updates.
- If an update is available, just download and install it.
Steam:
- Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
- Right-click on Modern Warfare III > Select Properties.
- Click on Updates > From Automatic Updates, select Only update this game when I launch it.
- Now, launch Modern Warfare II > Wait for it to download whenever available.
- Go back to the Updates section and select High Priority – Always auto-update this game before others (if you want).
5. Verify and Repair the Game Files
Sometimes corrupted or missing game files on the PC might also trouble you while starting the game. It’s always better to verify and repair the game files by following the steps below on your PC to avoid errors.
Battle.net:
- Open Battle.net > Click on Modern Warfare III.
- Select the Cog Wheel icon next to the Play button.
- Now, select Scan and Repair > Wait for the repair to complete.
Steam:
- Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
- Right-click on Modern Warfare III in your library.
- Go to Settings and select Properties.
- Click on Local Files and select Verify integrity of game files.
- Wait for the process to complete.
6. Update the Graphics Driver
An outdated or corrupted graphics card driver can trigger multiple issues with the games or system performance while running programs. It’s highly recommended to check the graphics driver update. To do so:
- Press the Win+X keys to open the Quick Link Menu.
- Click on Device Manager from the list > Double-click on Display adapters.
- Right-click on the dedicated graphics card that you’re currently using.
- Click on Update driver > Choose Search automatically for drivers.
- If there is the latest update available, it’ll automatically download & install the latest version.
- Once done, restart the computer to apply changes immediately.
Alternatively, you can manually download the latest version of the graphics driver and install it on the PC via the official website. Make sure to download the graphics driver file respective to your graphics card model and manufacturer.
7. Close Unnecessary Processes
Unnecessary background running tasks or programs can eat up a lot of system resources like CPU or Memory usage literally reducing system performance. Hence, the startup crashing, lagging, and not loading issues appear quite often. Simply, close all the third-party unnecessary background running tasks completely. To do this:
- Press the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys to open up Task Manager on the PC.
- Now, click on the Processes tab > Click to select the unnecessary task. [Memory consuming task]
- Click on End Task to close it > Do the same steps for other unnecessary third-party tasks too.
- Once done, restart your system to apply changes.
8. Disable Overlays
It seems that a couple of popular applications do have their own overlay program that can eventually run in the background and cause issues with the gaming performance or even launching issues. You should turn them off to fix the issue by following the steps below:
Disable Discord Overlay:
- Launch the Discord app > Click on the gear icon at the bottom.
- Click on Overlay under App Settings > Turn on the Enable in-game overlay.
- Click on the Games tab > Select Starfield.
- Finally, Turn Off the Enable in-game overlay option.
- Make sure to reboot your PC to apply changes.
Disable Xbox Game Bar:
- Press the Win+I keys to open Windows Settings.
- Click on Gaming > Go to Game Bar.
- Turn Off the Record game clips, screenshots, and broadcast using Game bar option.
Disable Game Mode:
- Press the Win+I keys to open Windows Settings.
- Click on Gaming > Go to Game Mode.
- Turn Off the toggle.
Disable Nvidia GeForce Experience Overlay:
- Launch the Nvidia GeForce Experience app > Head over to Settings.
- Click on the General tab > Disable the In-Game Overlay option.
- Finally, restart the PC to apply changes, and launch the game again.
Also do keep in mind that you should disable some other overlay apps like MSI Afterburner, Rivatuner, RGB software, keyboard & mouse customization software, or any other third-party overlay apps that run in the background.
Multiple reports did claim that several third-party programs are always running in the background from the Windows boot. So, performing a clean boot and disabling conflicting startup apps will be crucial enough to get better performance.
- Press the Win+R keys to open the Run dialogue box.
- Now, type msconfig and hit Enter to open System Configuration.
- Go to the Services tab > Enable the Hide all Microsoft services checkbox.
- Click on Disable all > Click on Apply and then OK to save changes.
- Now, go to the Startup tab > Click on Open Task Manager.
- Click on the Startup tab from Task Manager.
- Make sure to click on the particular task that has a higher startup impact.
- Once selected, click on Disable to turn it off.
- Do the same steps for each program that has a higher startup impact.
- Finally, make sure to restart your computer to apply changes.
10. Disable CPU or GPU Overclocking
Sometimes an overclocked CPU or GPU on the PC might cause conflicts with the other hardware which may trigger a bottleneck issue. It’s better to temporarily disable or restore the overclocked CPU/GPU to the factory default so that you can check out the potential reason behind the crashing issue. There are multiple tools available online to adjust overclocked CPU or GPU on the PC such as MSI Afterburner, Riva Tuner, AMD Ryzen Master, EVGA Precision X, etc.
In case, your Windows system is running on the Balanced mode in Power Options, just set the High-Performance mode for better results. Although this option will take higher power usage or battery usage. To do this:
- Click on the Start Menu > Search and open Control Panel.
- Go to Hardware and Sound > Select Power Options.
- Open High Performance > Fully shut down your computer.
- Once done, you can power it on again.
12. Update DirectX
Another thing you’ll need to do is simply run the latest DirectX installer application on your PC and run the installer program to get the latest DirectX version. An outdated DirectX version will cause several issues with the program launching and conflicts with the system processes. To do so:
13. Update Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables
If your Windows computer isn’t running the latest version of the required version of the Microsft Visual C++ Runtime then you may encounter several issues whatsoever. To do that:
- Open the Start Menu > Search and open Apps & Features.
- Click on the Microsoft Visual C++ program(s) from the list individually.
- Select each program and click on Uninstall.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete uninstallation.
- Now, visit the official Microsoft website > Download the latest Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime.
- Once done, install VCRedist on the PC.
- Finally, restart the system to change effects.
14. Update Windows
An outdated Windows OS version or build number can eventually trigger system performance issues, game launching issues, etc. You can follow the steps below to install the update.
- Press the Win+I keys to open Windows Settings.
- Click on Update & Security.
- Select Check for updates under Windows Update.
- If there is a feature update available, select Download and Install.
- Wait until the software update is complete.
- Once done, restart your computer to install the software update.
If none of the methods worked for you, then contact Activision Support to submit the ticket to get better assistance. Submitting the ticket will help developers to investigate the issue further.
Conclusion:
For those who are experiencing specific issues like getting stuck on the loading screen, the error 0xc0000005(0) N, or the “Times Out While Checking Permissions” error, Unexpectedly Stopped Working Error, Multiplayer Not Working, or Shaders Optimization Every Time, it’s recommended to click on the provided link to get detailed troubleshooting steps and possible solutions. Always ensure your systems are up-to-date and be patient as fixes and updates roll out.
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