Early adopters and eager Witcher 3 fans have been experiencing aggravating issues on the Playstation 4 release. Shockingly long fifteen minute load times, choppy framerate and chugging cutscenes are all symptoms of a larger problem. See how to fix these issues with our quick fix guide for consoles.
Whatever the cause, many PS4 players are facing issues with load times and inconsistent frame rate with the very first tutorial. During the graphic cutscenes at the beginning of the game, you should see hitches and framerate chugging — followed by a gruelingly long load time. Some report upwards of ten minutes, while we experienced fifteen minutes or longer. For others, the loading simply stopped before the game even begins.
It’s a frustrating issue, but there are ways to resolve it. Check out the series of tips below and try them out to get your version of The Witcher 3 running like it should.
Get Geralt started right with our Witcher 3 Places of Power Locations Guide to unlock extra ability points and magic bonuses.
How to Fix Long Load Times, Crashes & Framerate Stuttering on Console
Work-in-Progress: There may be other solutions out there. If you’re experiencing problems and this did not help you, please leave a comment and we’ll work on finding more answers.
Crashes, freezes, long load times and framerate stuttering occur after installing the physical disc and downloading the day-one patch. It isn’t clear if it’s the day-one patch or the installation that is causing issues.
To be safe, follow the instructions below to get Witcher 3 running properly on console.
- 1. Installation occurs after placing the physical disc into the Playstation 4 system. If you are connected to the Playstation Network, it will automatically download the latest patch.
- 2. If you have already installed and downloaded the latest patch, you will need to remove both from the Playstation storage. Go to “Settings”, Select “System Storage Management” and nter “Applications” — choose “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” and press Options to delete the installation and patch files.
- 3. Once the installation and patch files are removed, select back out to the “Settings” menu and select “Network” — there is a box with a check mark next to “Connect to the Internet”. Remove the check and disconnect from the internet before re-installing.
- 4. Restart the Playstation 4 console, take out the physical Witcher 3 disc and place it back into the console. Installation should automatically begin.
- 5. Allow installation to complete. It should take several minutes — if the installation completes so quickly you don’t see the white bar beneath the game tile, then there has been a problem. Delete the installation files and try again.
- 6. Once installation is complete, turn off the Playstation 4 console and start it again. After a full shutdown you should be ready to play without issues.
- 7. To make sure, start a New Game. If the graphic cutscene stutters instead of playing smoothly or the loading time takes 10-15+ minutes, there has been a problem with installation.
- 8. If the loading time is a more reasonable 40~ seconds, you should be good to go. Play until you can safely save, then restart the Playstation 4 console, re-enable network functions and download the day-one patch.
Unfortunately, the opening cutscenes cannot be skipped.
Kevin Thielenhaus is a freelance writer for The Escapist. Find him on Twitter here.
