CK3 freezes my entire PC after a few minutes of gameplay. The only thing I can move is the cursor

[Sobasobatao]

CK3 freezes my entire PC but I can move the cursor

So I just came back and reinstalled the game but the game freezes after a few minutes of gameplay. Everything freezes from my computer, I can't use the windows key, alt+f4 or Ctrl+alt+delete. The only thing that moves is the cursor.

Only way I can leave is by restarting my PC

I searched around the forums and saw people suggest options to similar problems such as disabling fullscreen optimization which didn't work. Turning off vsync and limiting to 60 fps and deleting my previous save files also didn't work.

CK3 seems to be the only game I encounter this problem in.

Edit 1: Should've posted under Tech Support, my bad

Edit 2: I've done everything suggested in this post to no avail:
https://forum(.)paradoxplaza(.)com/forum/threads/ck3-keeps-freezing-my-computer.1709716/

 

[prismaticmarcus]

Should've posted under Tech Support, my bad

Indeed. And awaaaaay we go...

 

[Obstel]

I have the same issue, just hard crash while loading a savegame.

 

[AndrewT]

Do you have Windows 11 24H2? If so this is certainly the cause of this problem.

it is a severely broken Windows update that has caused problems across the whole gaming - indeed computer - industry.
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/game-crashing-after-windows-11-24h2-update.1718749/
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...-freezes-after-installing-win11-24h2.1725554/
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...ws-11-24h2-with-exit-code-3221225620.1712339/

Some users found relief in various ways:
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...r-installing-win11-24h2.1725554/post-30126081
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...-windows-11-24h2-update.1718749/post-30159638
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...-windows-11-24h2-update.1718749/post-30062333

A user has come up with another possible workaround
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/24h2-w11-update-issue-found-no-more-crashes.1728373/
Some affected users have definitely seen that help them with this issue. I'd try this step first as it has helped many users!

And update your Nvidia driver to mid-Feb 2025, if not there already.

That aside, Certainly make sure you have the latest MS updates for it installed, but if that doesn't help all you can do is revert to 23H2 if you still can.

The CK3 devs are aware of the issue of course, but I don't know whether it is thought possible to change the game to work around the Windows 11 bugs.

Sorry about that!