How to Fix Where Winds Meet Crashing Problem?

Where Winds Meet can crash at launch, during loading, or while entering early scenes when the game fails to load the resources or settings it needs from Windows or Steam. In most cases, this happens due to missing permissions, a launcher problem, or a graphics setting that the system cannot handle.

In other situations, your selected graphics mode (DirectX version) or an unlocked frame rate may be putting sudden load on your system. Game files can also become corrupted, causing the game to crash when it tries to load damaged data. If your PC is close to the game’s minimum requirements, heavy scenes or quick GPU spikes can also trigger startup crashes.

Before moving to the solutions, here is a quick way to understand what type of crash you are facing:

• If the game crashes instantly at launch → it is usually a permission issue or a Steam session problem.
• If the crash happens randomly in the menu or cutscenes → it is often caused by FPS spikes or a DirectX problem.
• If the crash started after an update → the installation may have corrupted files or a broken Steam build.

Now that you understand the common causes clearly, follow the solutions below. These methods have worked for many players and will help you find and remove whatever is triggering the crash on your system.

1. Restart the Steam Client

If Steam has been running for a long time, it may collect temporary files, lose proper login tokens, or leave background services in a half-loaded state. Because the game depends on these services during startup, this can lead to crashes.

Restarting Steam gives you a fresh session and reloads all required components.

1. In Steam, click Steam in the top-left corner.
2. Select Exit and wait until the window fully closes.
3. Check the system tray and make sure the Steam icon is gone.
4. Launch Steam again.
5. Go to your Library and click Play on Where Winds Meet.
6. See if the game still crashes after restarting Steam.

2. Run Steam as Administrator

Some games require permission to access protected folders or perform security checks. If Steam is not running as administrator, Windows may block these requests. When that happens, the game fails to launch and crashes immediately.

Running Steam as administrator gives it the necessary permission to start the game properly.

If you cannot run Steam as administrator (office PC, shared PC), just skip this method.

1. Close Steam completely (right-click the Steam icon in the system tray and choose Exit).
2. Right-click the Steam shortcut and select Run as administrator.
3. Click Yes on the UAC prompt.
4. Launch Where Winds Meet and check if the crash is fixed.
5. If it works, you can make this permanent by going to Properties → Compatibility → Run this program as an administrator.

3. Use Steam Launch Arguments to Fake Admin Permission

If Steam cannot be run as administrator, you can use a launch argument that stops the game from asking Windows for extra permissions. This avoids a permission conflict and often prevents the crash.

The command RUNASINVOKER tells Windows to start the game using the same permission level Steam already has.

Note: This is a workaround. Running Steam as admin is always more reliable.

1. Open Steam and go to your Library.
2. Right-click Where Winds Meet and select Properties.
3. Under General, find the Launch Options box.
4. Paste this command:

cmd /min /C "set __COMPAT_LAYER=RUNASINVOKER && start "" %command%"

5. Start the game.
6. If new issues appear, delete the command to undo the change.

Note: You may see messages like zh_cn.permissionerror, but the game will still launch.

4. Lock FPS at 60

If your game crashes during menus or cutscenes, it may be because the frame rate is too high. When FPS is uncapped, your GPU can suddenly spike, causing quick changes in power and temperature. These spikes can destabilize the game and cause a crash.

Locking the FPS keeps your graphics card running steadily.

1. Launch Where Winds Meet and go to Settings → Graphics.
2. Find the FPS Limit option.
3. Set it to 60 FPS or enable V-Sync.
4. Restart the game.
5. If you can’t stay in-game long enough, use your GPU control panel:
   • NVIDIA: Control Panel → Manage 3D settings → Max Frame Rate
   • AMD: Radeon Software → Graphics → Frame Rate Target Control

5. Switch DirectX Version

DirectX controls how the game talks to your graphics card. Where Winds Meet supports both DX11 and DX12. On some systems, one may be unstable even if the other works perfectly.

Switching DirectX changes the rendering method and often fixes crashes instantly.

1. In Steam, right-click Where Winds Meet and choose Properties.
2. Go to General.
3. To force DX11, enter:

-dx11

4. Start the game and test it.
5. To remove DX forcing, delete -dx11.
6. Try both DX11 and DX12 and keep whichever is stable.

If you see a launcher asking which DirectX mode you want, choose the one that does not crash.

6. Use the Lite Version Instead of Steam’s Standard Build

The Steam version loads higher-quality textures and heavier graphics files. On some systems, these can fail during startup and cause repeated crashes.

The official launcher provides a Lite version with smaller graphics files. This reduces GPU load, memory usage, and shader complexity (shaders = the files that control lighting and visual effects). This often fixes crashes that happen only in the Steam version.

Your save data is stored on your account, so you won’t lose progress.

1. Go to the game’s official website and download the launcher.
2. Install and open the launcher.
3. Select the Lite version.
4. Install it on a drive with enough space.
5. Close Steam completely and launch the game through the official launcher.
6. Play for a while to confirm the crashes are gone.

7. Reinstall the Game

If nothing works, the game files may be corrupted beyond repair. Reinstalling replaces all files with a fresh copy.

Your progress is saved online, but if you use mods or custom settings, back them up first.

1. Open Steam and go to your Library.
2. Right-click Where Winds Meet → Manage → Uninstall.
3. Confirm the removal.
4. Restart your PC to clear leftover locked files.
5. Reinstall the game from Steam.
6. Launch it and check if the crash is resolved.