ACE COMBAT 8 Crashing on PC? Bandai Namco’s Official Fixes: Turn Off Async Compute and Raise Virtual Memory

If ACE COMBAT 8 crashing on PC is ruining your sorties, Bandai Namco has now shared two official fixes. In a product notice on 2 November, it said patch Ver. 1.01.002 added an Async Compute setting, and that turning it OFF may stop crashes on some graphics cards. An earlier notice found that raising Windows virtual memory reduces memory-related crashes. Neither is a permanent cure, and Bandai Namco says it's still working on other causes.

ACE COMBAT 8 crash fixes at a glance

How do I stop ACE COMBAT 8 crashing on PC?

Try Bandai Namco's two official workarounds, in this order.

1. Turn off Async Compute

Bandai Namco found that asynchronous computation can affect stability on certain GPU configurations. Patch Ver. 1.01.002 added an option on the Steam version: open the SYSTEM menu and set Async Compute to OFF. If the option is greyed out, your graphics card isn't suited to Async Compute in the first place, so this fix doesn't apply to you.

2. Raise your Windows virtual memory

In its 16 October notice, Bandai Namco said more total available memory (RAM plus Windows virtual memory) reduces certain memory-related crashes. In its testing, PCs with roughly 48 GB or more in total crashed less. Its recommended settings:

• 32 GB of RAM: set virtual memory to 16 GB or more.
• 16 GB of RAM: set virtual memory to 32 GB or more.

How do you change virtual memory in Windows 11?

1. Press the Windows key, type "View advanced system settings" and open it.
2. Under Performance, click Settings, then the Advanced tab.
3. Under Virtual memory, click Change and untick Automatically manage paging file size.
4. Pick your fastest drive (ideally the SSD with the game), choose Custom size and enter the amount in MB (16 GB = 16384 MB, 32 GB = 32768 MB) for both initial and maximum size.
5. Click Set, then OK, and restart your PC.

These steps are the standard Windows 11 settings; the amounts are Bandai Namco's. Make sure the drive has enough free space for the page file.

Is Bandai Namco fixing the ACE COMBAT 8 crashes?

Yes. Both notices say the team is investigating "multiple potential causes" and working towards a permanent resolution. Bandai Namco also calls the game's current memory usage "a significant issue" and says it's working to reduce it. It apologised for "the prolonged inconvenience".

What did ACE COMBAT 8 patch 1.01.002 fix?

Ver. 1.01.002, released for the Steam version on 23 October, fixed missions that couldn't progress (including Missions 6, 10, 13, 18, 25, 28 and 30), a crash in Mission 11 during Podarge's chain explosion, crashes when sorting aircraft by a role you don't own and on first opening the Aircraft Tree, adjusted Ladon on Elite difficulty in Mission 15, and added the Async Compute option.

What are the ACE COMBAT 8 PC requirements?

They're high, which may be part of the problem. Every PC needs Windows 11, an SSD, a graphics card with hardware ray tracing and DirectX 12 with Shader Model 6.6, and 150 GB of space.

ACE COMBAT 8 costs £54.99 / $69.99 / €69.99 on Steam. Our ACE COMBAT 8 review roundup covers what critics think.

Watch the ACE COMBAT 8 launch trailer

The official launch trailer plays at the top of the ACE COMBAT 8 Steam page.

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