6 Quick Fixes for Expedition 33 In-Game Crashes

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an incredible turn-based RPG developed by Sandfall Interactive. Running on Unreal Engine 5, the game looks incredible, and despite the known technical issues with the engine, the game runs and scales well on various PC configurations. However, PC users are still experiencing errors and issues with the game, like random gameplay crashes. I have compiled a list of fixes that will resolve the Expedition 33 in-game crash on your Windows PC.

Best Fixes for Expedition 33 Gameplay Crashes on PC

According to the PC community, Expedition 33 keeps crashing during gameplay. Some players experience the UE-Sandfall Game has crashed fatal error, while others don’t get any error message.

There are multiple reasons why you are experiencing this particular issue, like unlocked FPS, in-game overlays interfering with the game, an overclocked graphics card, an outdated GPU driver, and more. The following fixes will resolve the Expedition 33 crashing during gameplay issue on your PC.

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Fix #1 – Update GPU Driver or Install a Different Driver Version

Since the launch of the RTX 50 series GPUs, NVIDIA drivers have been causing a lot of issues with games. At the time of writing, NVIDIA has rolled out driver version 576.28, which is causing Expedition 33 to crash randomly. To fix these gameplay crashes, install the driver version from December 2024. You can revert to driver version 566.36, which is the last stable driver update from NVIDIA.

AMD GPU users facing these in-game crashes, do a clean reinstall of their GPU drivers to fix the issue. If you haven’t updated Adrenalin Software, then update it to the latest version, and the crashes will be fixed.

Fix #2 – Disable All In-Game Overlays

In-game overlays are now a staple feature of any gaming-related software or application, like Discord or Steam. They allow gamers to access app features or chat with friends without quitting or minimizing the game. While useful, in-game overlays often interfere with games and cause them to crash during gameplay.

In-game overlays are enabled by default, whether you use them or not. These overlays are the reason for the Expedition 33 in-game crashes on your PC. You can fix the issue by disabling all in-game overlays. Here is how you can disable overlays for Discord, NVIDIA App, Steam, and more:

Discord

Go to User Settings.
Open the “Game Overlay” tab.
Turn off the “Enable In-game overlay” options.

Steam

Open Steam settings.
Select the “In Game” tab.
Turn off the “Enable the Steam overlay while in-game” option.

Nvidia App

Open the Nvidia App and open Settings.
Go to the “Features” tab.
Disable “Nvidia Overlay”.

Geforce Experience

PC users who use GeForce Experience can disable its overlay by clicking the Gear (settings) Icon right next to the username. Click General and turn off “IN-GAME OVERLAY”.

Fix #3 – Close All Background Apps and Tools

One of the benefits of PC gaming is that users can install third-party tools and applications to monitor game performacne and other metrics or tailor the gameplay expereince to their liking. These tools and apps include MSI Afterburner, driver/software for cotnrollers or HOTAS, RGB software, and more.

However, these third-party apps and tools are interfering with Expedition 33, which is crashing it to the desktop during gameplay. You can fix the in-game crash issue by disabling or uninstalling all third-party background apps and tools.

Fix #4 – Play Expedition 33 With An FPS Limit

Another reason for Expedtion 33 in-game crashes is unlocked FPS. If you are playing the game with vertical synchroniation (vsync) disabled or on a display with high refresh-rate, it is why the game is crashing.

Playing a game with an unlocked FPS puts a lot of load on the CPU and GPU, which often results in crashes. To fix the issue, limit Expedition 33’s max framerate. You can do that by enabling vsync, using the in-game FPS limiter, NVIDIA App, or NVIDIA Control Panel. Here is how you can cap the game’s max FPS to fix the in-game crash issue:

Enable Vsync

If you are playing Expedition 33 with vsync disabled, then enable to to fix the crashes. Enabling vsync caps the game’s FPS to match your monitor’s refresh-rate, which reduced the GPU load and fixes the crashing issue. Go to the game’s Graphics menu and turn on “VSync”.

Alternatively, you can also force vsync through the NVIDIA Control Panel. Here is how you can enable it:

Open the Nvidia Control Panel.
Click the “Manage 3D settings” option from the left menu.
Open the “Program settings” tab, and select “Expedition 33” from the drop-down menu.
Scroll through the options and find the “Vertical Synchronization” option. Select “On”.
Apply the changes, and the crashes are now fixed.

Use In-game Max FPS Setting

If you are using a high refresh-rate monitor or don’t want to turn on vsync, then use the game’s in-game FPS limiter to fix the in-game crashes. Go to the “Graphics” menu and use the “Max FPS” setting to limit Expedition 33’s framerate.

Limit FPS Using the Nvidia App or Nvidia Control Panel

The in-game FPS limiter only allows broad FPS values like 30, 60, or 120. For a more granular control over the game’s framerate, you can use the NVIDIA App to fix the in-game crash issue. Here is how to use the NVIDIA App to limit Expedition 33’s framerate:

Open the Nvidia App and select the “Graphics” tab.
Select “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” from the list of games.
Scroll down the options and click on “Max Frame Rate”.
Turn it on and set a value for it.
Play the game, and the crashes are now fixed.

If you don’t have the Nvidia App, you can use the Nvidia Control Panel to limit the game’s FPS, and here is how it can be done:

Open the Nvidia Control Panel.
Click the “Manage 3D Settings” option from the left menu.
Click the “Program settings” tab.
Select “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” from the list.
Scroll through the options and find the “Max Frame Rate” option.
Enable it and set a value for it.
Play the game, and it won’t crash during gameplay.

Go to “Manage 3D Settings” > Select the game > enable the “Max Frame Rate” option and set a value for it.

Useful Tip: Unless you are playing the game on a Gsync or Freesync supported display, the frame rate value should be 1/2, 1/3, or 1/4th of your display refresh rate. For example, if your display is 120 Hz, the FPS value should be 60, 40, or 30, respectively.

On a display with a static refresh rate, if the FPS and refresh rate don’t match or the refresh rate isn’t equally divisible by the FPS value, the game will feel jittery.

Fix #5 – Disable Graphics Card Overclock

Overclocking PC hardware can get you more in-game performance, but it can also make gaming an unstable experience, as games crash while playing. If you have overclocked your graphics card, then revert it to its default GPU and Memory clocks to fix the Expedition 33 in-game crash issue.

However, most graphics cards from NVIDIA and AMD AIB partners, like ASUS or MSI, are either factory overclocked or use higher GPU and Memory clocks than their reference models.

These higher clocks are crashing the game during gameplay, and these crashes can be fixed by reverting the graphics card to its default clocks. You can do it easily by enabling the Debug Mode or underclocking your AMD GPU through Adrenalin Software.

Enable Debug Mode (NVIDIA)

Open the NVIDIA Control Panel.
Click the “Help” button in the top menu.
Select the “Debug Mode” option.

Open the Nvidia Control Panel and click on “Help”. Select Debug Mode.

Helpful Note: The Debug Mode forces the graphics card to use NVIDIA’s recommended GPU and Memory clocks for the particular model. This reduces the GPU load a bit and fixes crashes.

Underclock Your Graphics Hardware (AMD)

AMD doesn’t have an option that would provide a similar effect to the Debug Mode. So you’ll have to lower the GPU clock manually. Don’t worry, it is just a slight underclock, which won’t impact the game performance that much, but will fix the Expedition 33 in-game crash issue. Here is how you can underclock your AMD graphics card:

Open AMD Adrenalin Software.
Go to the “Performance” tab.
Click the “Tuning” tab.
Click on “Custom” under “Manual Tuning”.
Enable “GPU Tuning” and also enable “Advanced control”.
Three sliders will appear: Minimum Frequency, Maximum Frequency, and Voltage.
You only need to adjust the “Maximum Frequency” slider.
Slide it a little bit to the left to lower it, and click the “Apply Changes” button at the top right. (Finding a stable value requires trial and error.)
Play Expedition 33, and the crashes are now fixed.

Fix #6 – Run Expedition 33 with DX11 (NVIVIA, AMD) or Vulkan (Intel)

Expedition 33 required DirectX 12 to run, as this API is essential for DLSS and other upscalers. However, it is also causing the game to crash while playing. You can fix the issue by forcing Expedition 33 to use DirectX 11, and here is how it can be done:

Right-click Expedition 33 in your Steam library and select the “properties” option.
A small window will pop up.
In the General tab, type -dx11 under “Launch options” and close the window.
Launch the game, and it will run with DX11.

Note: DLSS and other upscaling options in Expedition 33 or any game require DirectX 12. Switching to DX11 will turn off all these features. Also, DX11 causes visual glitches in the game in some areas.

For those of you experiencing crashes while running the game on an Intel GPU, force the game to use Vulkan, and in-game crashes will be fixed. Here is how you can do it:

Right-click Expedition 33 in your Steam library and select the “properties” option.
A small window will pop up.
In the General tab, type -force-vulkan- under Launch options and close the window.
Play Expedition 33 on your Intel GPU, and it won’t crash again.

These fixes for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will help you resolve the in-game crashes. If you are experiencing errors and crashes in games, also see our fixes hub for commonly occurring errors for PC and handhelds.