Permafrost Launch Crashes: Which Workaround Fits?

Start with the failure you can reproduce. Record the build and original settings, then make one change at a time. A workaround that gets you into the game may leave low frame rates, failed joins or missing guest gear unresolved.

At 10:24 PDT on October 9, the developer announced a stability hotfix rolling out through Steam. It disables FSR for NVIDIA RTX 20 and 30-series GPUs to reduce crashes. Steam should update automatically; the developer says to restart Steam if it does not.

This is a verified official announcement, not a Kingy test of an installed build. It supplies no build number or measured performance recovery and does not claim to repair joining or missing guest gear. The earlier two DX11 recovery reports predate this announcement; they do not validate the hotfix.

1. Check Steam’s download/update state and record the installed build before retesting.
2. Repeat the startup check, then assess performance separately at recorded settings.
3. If crashes remain, match the symptom to the pinned graphics/DX11 advice and keep the result for support.

The developer’s updated pinned help recommends -dx11 when a crash prevents access to video settings. This changes the graphics launch mode; it is a workaround to test on your setup.

oefzke reports improvement at 07:13 PDT. NikyPerceaBoss says DX11 stopped crashes at 07:14, while low frame rates on medium settings remained. These are two player reports, not a controlled performance test or a guarantee of stable play.

1. In Steam, right-click Permafrost in your Library and open Properties.
2. Under General, add -dx11 to Launch Options; record any existing options before changing them.
3. Launch a short session and record whether it opens, crashes or freezes. If it opens, assess performance separately. If the option does not help, remove only the option you added and include the result in your support report.

The developer asks players to try the following graphics changes in this order, one at a time. Relaunch or repeat the same short check after each change and keep a record of what changed. Reaching the menu alone does not establish stable gameplay or acceptable performance.

1. Turn Multi-Frame-Generation-Type off.
2. If it still crashes, also turn Super Resolution off.
3. If the problem persists, lower the graphics quality preset.
4. Finally, switch V-Sync to the other setting and check whether that helps.

Between 06:53 and 07:41 PDT on October 9, eight distinct Steam accounts reported launch crashes, freezes or a stalled launch across a discussion and player reviews. Repeat posts and the DX11 reporter’s separate review count once. A pre-release crash account and reports limited to low frame rates are excluded.

These confirm that reports exist. They do not establish an affected-player percentage, one shared cause or failure on every PC. Some players later report a successful load or a period without another crash.

The first three affected posters in the launch co-op thread report missing lobbies, failed joins or missing guest gear. One player’s Steam Friends join ended back at the menu, and another says the suggested first-cabin step did not work. Two later posters bring the thread to five: kefront initially joined after the cabin step but could not reconnect after a break, and Juca could not find a friend’s lobby after a crash. kefront also says Steam Friends joining and invites failed on retry.

The earlier developer reply says the host should pass the first cabin and remain online in the game. The later co-op guide says to use Host Multiplayer, turn Private Off for session discovery, and load the same world on return. It also clarifies that characters are tied to a world: a solo character does not carry into a friend’s world.

A player reports a previously played guest arriving without gear, which the developer calls unintended and asks to see in a bug report. The report does not establish a same-world before/after comparison, permanent deletion or a successful recovery. For a persistence check, rejoin the same host world with the same guest character.

Use a short disposable session and low-value items. Preserve original saves. These are proposed checks; Kingy has not independently tested the launch build. Record each result separately: opening the game does not prove acceptable performance, and reconnecting does not prove that guest gear persisted.

The pinned developer post attributes error 11c7 to Windows Smart App Control blocking the game. Keep this Windows security control enabled during routine troubleshooting. Record the exact error and ask Toplitz support for help; the graphics and DX11 checks above do not require disabling it.

The developer asks for PC specifications and what happened in Bug Reporting, and links a crash-log upload service. For co-op, include both builds, who hosted, the joining method and the guest inventory comparison. Keep a copy of your evidence.

The October 9 RTX 20/30 hotfix is now officially announced: it disables FSR on those GPU families to reduce crashes. Performance recovery, joining reliability and guest-inventory retention remain untested here. The earlier launch-delay improvements were included at launch, and the October 3 Update 1 patch belongs to the ended playtest.