How to fix The First Descendant crashing and Out of Video Memory error

Despite some optimization enhancements since the beta, The First Descendant is still suffering some performance issues with its launch. Some players are experiencing crashing as well as an error indicating the player is Out of Video Memory followed by a subsequent crash. Here’s how to fix The First Descendant crashing as well as the ‘Out of VIdeo Memory’ error that can occur.

How to fix crashing and the Out of Video Memory error

The easiest way to fix any crashing issues you are experiencing with The First Descendant including the dreaded ‘Out of Video Memory’ error is to disable Ray Tracing and Nvidia DLSS. Ray Tracing itself is extremely taxing and despite the improvements in optimization The First Descendant has received since beta, it’s still a resource hog and Ray Tracing only amplifies that.

Nvidia DLSS on the other hand is supposed to enhance your experience using upscaling technology, however, the appears to be a bug at the moment causing players with certain Nvidia cards to experience crashing and the Out of Video Memory error with DLSS enabled. You will not have this option if you are not using an Nvidia video card.

To disable Ray Tracing and Nvidia DLSS, go into your settings on The First Descendant and look under the Graphics tab. The second option down is Ray Tracing, which you want to switch to Off. Next, under Performance, click where it says Additional Options. If you have an Nvidia card, you’ll want to switch this setting to Off for now. If you are using an AMD card, you’ll either want to turn it off or use AMD FSR.

I’d imagine the upscaling bug will get fixed eventually, after which you may want to enable DLSS. But for now, it seems to be causing more harm than good, so disabling it seems like the best option.