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The massive free next-gen update for The Witcher 3 is here, and out of the box now on Steam Deck it will just crash when you try to load into the game. Here's how to sort it out.

Thankfully, it's actually quite easy.

Currently the problem seems to be all the updates to the DirectX 12 mode, it will just crash to an error screen after loading and it will do this every time.

To get around that in the new update: in the launcher, next to the play button is a drop-down box where you can select DirectX 11 and that will get it working again. Another option for those that want it, is in the game Properties -> Betas, you can select the Classic option to get the pre-patch version of the game. You can select that Beta even before you download it, so you don't end up wasting time with an extra download too.

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LordDaveTheKind Dec 14, 2022
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It would have been nice to set the DirectX11 version directly from the launch command (maybe with the parameter -dx11 as UE games do), and skip entirely that launcher.


Last edited by LordDaveTheKind on 14 December 2022 at 12:30 pm UTC
einherjar Dec 14, 2022
It worries me a bit, everytime I read "how to get xy to work again on Steamdeck".

If it does not become a "just works" experience, it will fail over time.
Liam Dawe Dec 14, 2022
Quoting: LordDaveTheKindIt would have been nice to set the DirectX11 version directly from the launch command (maybe with the parameter -dx11 as the UE games do), and skip entirely that launcher.
Yeah, the problem seems to be skipping the launcher appears to just set a default to DX12 from what I've seen.
Zlopez Dec 14, 2022
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Quoting: einherjarIt worries me a bit, everytime I read "how to get xy to work again on Steamdeck".

If it does not become a "just works" experience, it will fail over time.

Hopefully this will get better over time. Now it seems that some developers don't test it on SteamDeck before pushing the update out.
BlackBloodRum Dec 14, 2022
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Quoting: einherjarIt worries me a bit, everytime I read "how to get xy to work again on Steamdeck".

If it does not become a "just works" experience, it will fail over time.

You can't really blame Linux for this. If a game was updated and it stopped working on windows, would you respond "Windows will fail if it doesn't become a just works experience"? No. You'd say the game devs need to test their game more and fix it.

My point here is that we shouldn't be so quick to blame Linux, it's perfectly possible the game is doing something weird which is breaking the compatibility. The fact is, this was just working, but the devs updated it, which has broken it.

We're not physic and we don't have access to the next update, so we can't "fix it" before it's released. Only the game devs could do that.


Last edited by BlackBloodRum on 14 December 2022 at 12:18 pm UTC
einherjar Dec 14, 2022
Quoting: BlackBloodRum
Quoting: einherjarIt worries me a bit, everytime I read "how to get xy to work again on Steamdeck".

If it does not become a "just works" experience, it will fail over time.

You can't really blame Linux for this. If a game was updated and it stopped working on windows, would you respond "Windows will fail if it doesn't become a just works experience"? No. You'd say the game devs need to test their game more and fix it.

My point here is that we shouldn't be so quick to blame Linux, it's perfectly possible the game is doing something weird which is breaking the compatibility. The fact is, this was just working, but the devs updated it, which has broken it.

We're not physic and we don't have access to the next update, so we can't "fix it" before it's released. Only the game devs could do that.

Where did I blame Linux?
Ehvis Dec 14, 2022
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Gave the update a quick try on desktop. Without changes on dx12 I just get an "endless" black screen after the launcher. Same for proton 7.0-5 and proton experimental. Didn't try dx11 because lunch time is over!
eldarion Dec 14, 2022
My question for steam deck users would be if you actually notice any difference between the original and the next gen version. With a small screen, there should be almost none.

The texture improvement is, in theory, unnoticeable on small screens. The ray tracing thing is, as we can see on multiple comparation videos, almost indistinctable from the original (which, by the way, means the dev team did a great work with shadow simulation).
Werner Dec 14, 2022
the bigger Text, Subtitles ....... are great with the new update, but i had no more time to play around
Liam Dawe Dec 14, 2022
Quoting: eldarionMy question for steam deck users would be if you actually notice any difference between the original and the next gen version. With a small screen, there should be almost none.

The texture improvement is, in theory, unnoticeable on small screens. The ray tracing thing is, as we can see on multiple comparation videos, almost indistinctable from the original (which, by the way, means the dev team did a great work with shadow simulation).
Text / UI scaling options, new content, new camera controls etc. There's lots of improvements to see.
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