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Death Stranding 2 hangs or crashes with FSR enabled on a Radeon RX 9000 card

Last verified October 2026Tested against AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.10.1 (20 October 2026) - carries both FSR entries, Radeon RX 9000 Series (RDNA 4) - the only family AMD scopes both entries to, DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH PC Patch 1.10 (2 July 2026) - latest PC build, Radeon RX 6000 and RX 7000 Series - launch-era reports, outside AMD's entries, Windows 10, Windows 11Good evidence

AMD's current driver notes list two different FSR faults that can hang this game, and they have opposite fixes. On a Radeon RX 9000 card with FSR enabled, AMD's advice is to turn FSR off. If the hang instead comes when you alt-tab or toggle an overlay with in-game FSR Frame Generation on, AMD's advice is to enable V-Sync in the game. Both entries are scoped to RX 9000 and nothing else. On an older Radeon neither entry describes you: get the game onto PC Patch 1.10 first, then test with frame generation off, which is the one thing players on RX 6000 cards consistently reported stopping it.

Start here

  1. Work out which of AMD's two entries you match, if either
  2. Get the game onto PC Patch 1.10 before changing anything else
  3. Turn in-game frame generation off and test

This page separates three things that get mixed together. AMD has two open FSR entries in Adrenalin 26.10.1, one of which names this game directly. The game itself had frame-generation bugs that Nixxes patched twice in the spring. And a lot of the advice still circulating was written in March and April 2026, against game builds and drivers that no longer exist. Which of those you are looking at decides what to change.

Symptoms

  • The game hangs or freezes after a few minutes of play, with FSR enabled, on an RX 9070, RX 9060 or RX 9050 card
  • The whole system crashes or hangs the moment you alt-tab out, or when an overlay such as Xbox Game Bar opens or closes
  • A notification saying the display driver stopped responding, or an in-game error claiming the driver is out of date when it is current
  • It is intermittent - the same session is fine for a while and then goes
  • It stops entirely when you turn frame generation off, and comes back when you turn it on
  • On an RX 6000 or RX 7000 card, crashes within a minute or two of loading in

Why this happens

AMD has two open FSR faults in the current driver, and they are not the same fault

Adrenalin 26.10.1, last updated 20 October 2026, lists both an intermittent application hang while playing Death Stranding 2 with AMD FSR enabled on RX 9000 cards, and a separate intermittent system crash or hang when switching applications or toggling overlays with in-game FSR Frame Generation enabled on RX 9000 cards. AMD recommends disabling FSR for the first and enabling V-Sync for the second. Neither appears under Fixed Issues, so both are still open, and AMD has published no cause for either. The practical consequence is that applying the wrong one of AMD's two workarounds will not help you, which is why the first step here is working out which entry you match.

Work out which of AMD's two entries you match, if either · Disable AMD FSR, in both places it can be switched on · Enable V-Sync in the game, if the hang comes when you switch apps

Frame generation was the common trigger at launch, and the game's own code for it was patched twice

Nixxes changed the game's frame-generation path in PC Patch 1.1 of 26 March 2026, which fixed AMD FSR and Intel XeSS frame generation when combined with NVIDIA DLSS upscaling, and again in PC Patch 1.4 of 17 April 2026, which fixed various rare crashes along with two frame-generation bugs. In the threads from that period, posters on RX 6700 XT and RX 6900 XT cards independently reported that the driver crashed only with frame generation enabled and stopped when they turned it off. That is a game-side history rather than a driver one, so the first thing it implies is to check you are actually on the current build.

Get the game onto PC Patch 1.10 before changing anything else · Turn in-game frame generation off and test

FSR is two features behind one name, with two separate switches

AMD renamed FSR 4 to FSR Upscaling, and lists FSR Frame Generation as a different feature with different hardware support: the full FSR "Redstone" suite is RX 9000 and above, while RX 6000 and RX 7000 get upscaling only, and the older FSR 3 frame generation reaches much further back. On top of that, the feature has a switch in AMD Software and a switch in the game's own graphics menu. So "disable AMD FSR" is ambiguous in a way that matters - you can have frame generation running with upscaling already off, and turning off only one of the two switches leaves the other one active with nothing to tell you so.

Disable AMD FSR, in both places it can be switched on · Turn in-game frame generation off and test

Fixes

Work out which of AMD's two entries you match, if either

about 3 min

AMD's two FSR workarounds are different actions for different faults, and both are scoped to RX 9000 cards only. Thirty seconds here decides which of the steps below is yours.

Applies to: Radeon RX 9000, RX 7000 and RX 6000 Series, AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.10.1

  1. Check your card. Press Windows key + R, enter dxdiag, open the Display tab and read the card name. AMD's two entries name Radeon RX 9000 series products only - the RX 9070, RX 9060 and RX 9050 families. On an RX 6000 or RX 7000 card, neither entry describes you, and you should go to the game-build and frame-generation steps instead.
  2. Check your driver version. AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition reports its own version number, and AMD's two entries are published against 26.10.1, last updated 20 October 2026. Do not expect dxdiag to agree: 26.10.1 packages two different driver builds (26.20.15.07 and 25.10.45.16, Windows Driver Store versions 32.0.32015.7029 and 32.0.21045.16010), so the number Windows shows will not read "26.10.1" on any card.
  3. Note when the hang happens. If it comes while you are simply playing with FSR on, that is AMD's first entry and the step to use is turning FSR off. If it comes at the moment you alt-tab, or when an overlay such as Xbox Game Bar opens or closes, that is AMD's second entry and the step to use is enabling V-Sync.
  4. If the hang happens only with frame generation enabled and never without it, treat the frame-generation step as yours regardless of which card you are on - that is the pattern players reported most consistently.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: AMD, AMD

Get the game onto PC Patch 1.10 before changing anything else

about 15 min

Most of the crash advice for this game online was written against the Patch 1.3 build in April 2026. Nixxes shipped crash and frame-generation fixes in 1.1 and 1.4, and 1.10 is the current build.

Applies to: DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH on PC, Any Radeon card

  1. In Steam, right-click DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH, choose Properties, then Updates, and make sure automatic updates are not set to a mode that has left you behind.
  2. Under Properties and Betas, confirm no beta or earlier build is selected. Some of the April advice told players to roll the game back to the 1.4 or 1.1 build; if someone followed that, this is where it is still set.
  3. Right-click the game, choose Properties, then Installed Files, and select Verify integrity of game files.
  4. Launch the game and check the build. Patch 1.10 was published on 2 July 2026 and is the latest PC patch on the game's Steam news feed as of 23 October 2026.
  5. If the hangs continue on 1.10, carry on to the steps below. If they stop, the problem was the older build rather than the driver.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS / Nixxes Software, KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS / Nixxes Software, KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS / Nixxes Software

Turn in-game frame generation off and test

about 20 min

This is the only step with independent reports behind it rather than vendor advice alone: separate posters on RX 6700 XT and RX 6900 XT cards found the driver crashed only with frame generation on, and stopped when it was off.

Applies to: Radeon RX 6000, RX 7000 and RX 9000 Series, DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH PC Patch 1.10

  1. In the game, open Options then Graphics and find the frame generation setting. Set it to Off. Leave the upscaler alone for this test - frame generation and upscaling are separate settings.
  2. Play the section that normally hangs you. One poster reported crashing within ten minutes with frame generation on and not at all with it off, so give it a comparable stretch rather than a minute.
  3. If the hangs stop, you have found your trigger. You can leave upscaling enabled and simply play without frame generation until AMD or Nixxes ships a fix.
  4. If you are on an RX 9000 card and want frame generation back, try AMD's V-Sync workaround below before giving up on it - AMD's second entry describes a frame-generation hang specifically.
  5. If the hangs continue with frame generation off, this is not your trigger. Put it back if you want it and move on.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: Steam Community, Steam Community, AMD, AMD

Disable AMD FSR, in both places it can be switched on

about 10 min

This is AMD's own recommendation for the entry that names this game. Because FSR has a switch in AMD Software and a switch in the game, turning off only one leaves the other running with no warning.

Applies to: Radeon RX 9000 Series (RDNA 4), AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.10.1

  1. In the game's graphics options, set the upscaling method to something other than FSR, or to off. Posters in the discussion threads name Intel XeSS and the game's own PICO option as the alternatives they switched to.
  2. Then check AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition for its own FSR Upscaling setting for this game, which is separate from the in-game one, and turn that off too. AMD renamed FSR 4 to FSR Upscaling, so that is the label to look for rather than FSR 4. Turning off only one of the two switches leaves the other active with nothing to tell you so.
  3. Restart the game and play the section that normally hangs you.
  4. If it is stable, leave FSR off. AMD lists this entry as open in 26.10.1 with no fix shipped, so check later releases rather than expecting it to clear on its own.
  5. If it still hangs with FSR off in both places, FSR is not what is driving it. Posters on RX 6000 cards reported exactly that outcome in April, so you would not be the first - see the note below on what that means.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: AMD, AMD, Steam Community

Enable V-Sync in the game, if the hang comes when you switch apps

about 10 min

AMD's second entry covers a system crash or hang when switching applications or toggling overlays with in-game FSR Frame Generation enabled on RX 9000 cards, and the recommended workaround is V-Sync in game settings.

Applies to: Radeon RX 9000 Series (RDNA 4), Games with in-game AMD FSR Frame Generation

  1. In the game, open Options then Graphics and set V-Sync to On. AMD's wording is specifically "enable V-Sync in game settings", so set it in the game rather than only in AMD Software.
  2. Leave in-game FSR Frame Generation as it is - this workaround exists so you can keep it on.
  3. Test the thing that triggers it: alt-tab out and back, and open and close Xbox Game Bar with Windows key + G, a few times during play.
  4. If the system still hangs, turn frame generation off as the fallback. AMD has published no other workaround for this entry and lists it as open.
  5. If you also run AMD's Performance Metrics Overlay, note that AMD lists a third, separate overlay crash with its own opposite workaround. Our article on the Radeon metrics overlay crash covers that one.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: AMD

Clean-install the driver if you have changed Adrenalin versions recently

Check before applyingabout 30 min

Driver installs layered over one another are a known source of unexplained instability, and AMD itself tells you to use its Cleanup Utility when moving between versions.

Applies to: Radeon graphics products, Windows 10, Windows 11

Before you do this

You will be without a display driver between the cleanup and the reinstall, and the screen will change resolution and may go blank for a while. Download the installer you intend to use first, and do not do this over Remote Desktop or on a machine you cannot reach physically.

  1. Note which Adrenalin version you are on now, and download the installer for the version you intend to end on before you start - you will have no graphics driver in between.
  2. Run the AMD Cleanup Utility. AMD's 26.10.1 notes recommend it when downgrading to a previous version of Adrenalin.
  3. Restart, then install the driver you downloaded and reboot again.
  4. Test the game before changing any other setting, so you know what the reinstall alone did.
  5. If you are on a laptop or all-in-one, install the driver your system vendor publishes rather than the one from AMD.com - AMD's own notes say OEM drivers are what it recommends on those machines.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: AMD, Steam Community

Known issues

  • Open in AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.10.1, notes last updated 20 October 2026. AMD lists an intermittent application hang while playing Death Stranding 2: On the Beach with AMD FSR enabled on Radeon RX 9000 series products, and recommends disabling AMD FSR. It does not appear under Fixed Issues, no cause has been published, and no fix has shipped.

    Affects AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.10.1, Radeon RX 9000 Series · Status: workaround only

  • Also open in 26.10.1: an intermittent system crash or hang when switching between applications or toggling overlays while playing games with in-game AMD FSR Frame Generation enabled on Radeon RX 9000 series products. AMD recommends enabling V-Sync in game settings. This entry is not specific to this game, but it reaches anyone playing it with frame generation on an RX 9000 card.

    Affects AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.10.1, Radeon RX 9000 Series · Status: workaround only

  • The game-side frame-generation bugs are fixed. Nixxes fixed FSR and XeSS frame generation combined with DLSS upscaling in PC Patch 1.1 of 26 March 2026, and fixed various rare crashes plus two more frame-generation bugs in PC Patch 1.4 of 17 April 2026. Patch 1.10 of 2 July 2026 is the latest PC build and lists further stability improvements.

    Affects PC Patch 1.1, PC Patch 1.4, PC Patch 1.10 · Status: fixed

  • Reports that turning FSR off does not help exist, but they do not test AMD's current entry. The poster who reported that was on a Radeon RX 6750 XT, in April 2026, on the game's Patch 1.3 build - a different GPU family, driver and game build from the RX 9000 case AMD documents. As of 23 October 2026, three days after 26.10.1 shipped, we found no report either confirming or contradicting AMD's workaround on an RX 9000 card.

    Affects Radeon RX 6750 XT, PC Patch 1.3 · Status: unknown

  • Crashes on RX 9000 cards are reported outside AMD's FSR entries too. Two posters on RX 9070 XT cards reported crashes in the week of the March 2026 PC release, one of them finding that lower settings, frame-rate caps, switching from FSR 4.1 to PICO, resetting tuning and clearing the shader cache all failed. Those predate both Patch 1.4 and the current driver, so they are context rather than a current diagnosis.

    Affects Radeon RX 9070 XT, March 2026 release build · Status: unknown

If none of this worked

If you are not on a Radeon RX 9000 card, neither of AMD's two entries is about you, and anyone telling you AMD has acknowledged your crash is overreading the notes. The frame-generation step is still the one worth trying, because that is where the independent reports are. If the hangs survive both patch 1.10 and frame generation off, stop treating this as an FSR problem: a crash that happens with every upscaler and no frame generation is more likely heat, memory, an unstable undervolt or a failing power supply than a driver fault, and AMD and Nixxes both want crash reports rather than guesses - Nixxes asks affected players to contact its support with the files it requests. Reports of deleting AMD audio drivers, disabling MPO or switching to FSR 3.1.5 circulate for this game, but each comes from a single poster with no corroboration and no vendor behind it, so treat them as last resorts rather than fixes.

Common questions

Has AMD acknowledged that Death Stranding 2 hangs on Radeon cards?
For RX 9000 cards, yes. Adrenalin 26.10.1, last updated 20 October 2026, lists an intermittent application hang while playing Death Stranding 2: On the Beach with AMD FSR enabled on Radeon RX 9000 series products, and recommends disabling AMD FSR. For RX 6000 and RX 7000 cards, no - AMD scopes that entry to the RX 9000 family only, so crashes on an older Radeon are not covered by it.
Should I disable FSR or enable V-Sync? AMD seems to say both.
They are workarounds for two different entries. Disabling FSR is AMD's advice for the hang that happens while you are simply playing with FSR on. Enabling V-Sync is its advice for the system crash or hang that happens when you switch applications or toggle an overlay with in-game FSR Frame Generation on. If your hang has no connection to alt-tabbing, V-Sync is not the one aimed at you.
Is this the same thing as the Radeon overlay crash?
No, though they can look alike and both sit in the same driver release. The overlay entry is about AMD's own Performance Metrics Overlay colliding with another overlay, and its workaround is to switch the metrics overlay off. That one is not specific to this game. Our article on the Radeon metrics overlay crash covers it, including how to tell the two apart.
Do I need to roll back my driver?
There is no good evidence for it. We read the three Steam discussion threads about Radeon crashes in this game and found no poster who named a specific Adrenalin version that fixed it, so the rollback advice circulating for this game is unsourced. A clean reinstall of the version you are on is the lower-risk thing to try, and if you do move versions, AMD tells you to use its Cleanup Utility first.
Will turning off frame generation cost me much performance?
You lose the interpolated frames, so the frame-rate counter drops, but upscaling is a separate setting and you can keep it. That matters here because the two are easy to confuse: AMD lists FSR Upscaling and FSR Frame Generation as different features, with the full FSR "Redstone" suite on RX 9000 and above and upscaling only on RX 6000 and RX 7000 cards.
Is there a newer game patch that fixes this?
Not as of 23 October 2026. PC Patch 1.10, published 2 July 2026, is the latest build on the game's Steam news feed. The frame-generation fixes landed earlier, in Patch 1.1 and Patch 1.4, so if your crash advice came from April it predates the build you should be running.

Did this fix work?

If a step is wrong, outdated, or did not help, telling us is the fastest way to get it corrected. Reports are reviewed before new articles.

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Related problems

Sources

  • AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.10.1 Driver Release NotesOfficial

    AMD · Release notes · checked Oct 23, 2026

    • Under Known Issues: "Intermittent application hang may be observed while playing Death Stranding 2: On the Beach with AMD FSR enabled on Radeon RX 9000 series graphics products. Users experiencing this issue are recommended to disable AMD FSR."
    • Under Known Issues: "Intermittent system crash or hang may be observed when switching between applications or toggling overlays while playing games with in-game AMD FSR Frame Generation enabled on Radeon RX 9000 series graphics products. Users experiencing this issue are recommended to enable V-Sync in game settings."
    • Both of those entries are scoped to Radeon RX 9000 series graphics products and to no other family.
    • The notes are dated "Last Updated: October 20th, 2026" and neither entry appears under Fixed Issues, so both are open in the current release.
    • Under Additional Information: when downgrading to a previous version of AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, it is recommended to use the AMD Cleanup Utility.
    • 26.10.1 is compatible with Windows 11 version 21H2 and later and Windows 10 64-bit version 21H2 and later.
    • Under Packaged Contents, 26.10.1 ships two driver builds - 26.20.15.07 (Windows Driver Store 32.0.32015.7029) and 25.10.45.16 (Windows Driver Store 32.0.21045.16010) - so the version Windows reports never reads "26.10.1".
    • Supported products for 26.10.1 list the Radeon RX 9070 / 9060 / 9050 Series as the RX 9000 family members.
  • AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (AMD FSR)Official

    AMD · Documentation · checked Oct 23, 2026

    • AMD states "FSR 4 has been renamed FSR Upscaling to better distinguish between the various features that now make up FSR 'Redstone'", so the FSR label in a game menu and in AMD Software may not match.
    • Hardware compatibility for AMD FSR "Redstone" is listed as "Radeon RX 9000 Series Graphics and above", with "Upscaling Only: Radeon RX 6000 & RX 7000 Series Graphics".
    • AMD's hardware compatibility table lists AMD FSR 3 as "Frame Generation: Radeon RX 5000 Series Graphics and above", so in-game frame generation reaches far older cards than the RX 9000 Series its current entries name.
    • AMD describes FSR Upscaling and FSR Frame Generation as distinct features, which is why a game can have frame generation on while upscaling is off.
  • DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH - PC Patch 1.10Official

    KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS / Nixxes Software · Release notes · checked Oct 23, 2026

    • Patch 1.10 is the most recent PC patch for the game, published 2 July 2026; no later PC patch has been announced on the game's Steam news feed as of 23 October 2026.
    • Patch 1.10 lists "Various stability improvements" and a fix for a freeze when using the instant camera.
    • The developers ask players who still hit problems to contact Nixxes Support and supply the requested files.
  • DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH - PC Patch 1.4Official

    KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS / Nixxes Software · Release notes · checked Oct 23, 2026

    • Patch 1.4, published 17 April 2026, lists "Fixed various rare crashes and implemented additional stability improvements".
    • Patch 1.4 lists "AMD FSR and Intel XeSS Frame Generation now correctly include vignetting when interpolating frames" and a frame-generation bug affecting flowing water, confirming the game's own frame-generation code was changed in that patch.
    • The game ships its own in-game AMD FSR Frame Generation implementation.
  • DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH - PC Patch 1.1Official

    KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS / Nixxes Software · Release notes · checked Oct 23, 2026

    • Patch 1.1, published 26 March 2026, lists "Implemented a fix for AMD FSR and Intel XeSS frame generation when used in combination with NVIDIA DLSS upscaling".
    • Patch 1.1 lists various improvements to overall performance and game stability, one week after the 19 March 2026 PC release.
  • AMD Drivers crashing :: DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH General DiscussionCommunity report

    Steam Community · Forum · checked Oct 23, 2026

    • Two separate posters on Radeon RX 9070 XT cards report crashes in this game, one describing a "GPU stopped / driver out of date" error.
    • One RX 9070 XT poster reports that lowering graphics settings, capping frame rate, switching upscaling from FSR 4.1 to PICO, resetting tuning and clearing the shader cache all failed to stop it, and that frame generation caused screen flickering.
    • The thread dates from 19 March 2026, the week of the PC release, and no poster states an Adrenalin driver version.
    • Individual posters report unrelated self-found workarounds including disabling MPO and setting upscaling to FSR 3.1.5 with Dynamic Resolution Scaling off.
  • Crash video driver :: DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH General DiscussionCommunity report

    Steam Community · Forum · checked Oct 23, 2026

    • A poster on a Radeon RX 6700 XT reports the GPU driver crashes only when any frame generation setting is enabled, and that disabling frame generation prevents the crashes.
    • A second poster, on a Radeon RX 6900 XT, reports that disabling frame generation also helped them.
    • The RX 6700 XT poster states that Nixxes support told them by email that many RX 6000 users had reported crashes.
    • The thread dates from 27 April 2026, before PC Patch 1.10.
  • Patch 1.3, enabling FSR Frame Generation in the game causes a 100% crashCommunity report

    Steam Community · Forum · checked Oct 23, 2026

    • The opening poster reports crashing within ten minutes whenever in-game FSR Frame Generation is enabled, and no crash with it off, on the game's Patch 1.3 build in April 2026.
    • A poster on a Radeon RX 6750 XT reports that disabling FSR both in game and in AMD Adrenalin did not stop the crash, only delayed it.
    • A different poster on a Radeon RX 6750 XT reports that switching the upscaler to Intel XeSS appeared to stop the crashing, while describing the result as not yet confirmed.
    • These reports predate PC Patch 1.4 and concern Radeon RX 6000 cards, not the RX 9000 family AMD's current entries name.