Subnautica 2 – How to Fix Game Crashes on 13th and 14th Gen Intel

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If you’re one of the many players running Subnautica 2 on a 13th or 14th generation Intel CPU and experiencing crashes right at launch, don’t panic. You’re not alone, and your hardware isn’t necessarily dying. The issue is likely related to how the game’s Oodle compression library handles shader decompression on these newer Intel chips. While the developers will probably patch this eventually, here are some practical workarounds you can try right now to get the game running.

 

Step-by-Step Fixes

Step 1: Disable Windows Game Mode

  • Press the Start button and type “Settings”
  • In the left sidebar, click on Gaming
  • Find Game Mode and toggle it OFF

Step 2: Reduce Background Overlays

This might not solve everything, but it helps. Disable any overlay software running in the background, including:

  • NVIDIA GeForce Experience overlay
  • Steam overlay
  • Discord overlay
  • Any other game capture or performance overlays

Step 3: Launch the Game as Administrator

  • Open your Steam library and right-click Subnautica 2
  • Select Properties or Browse Local Files
  • Navigate to the binaries folder
  • Find the game’s .exe file
  • Right-click it and select Run as administrator

Step 4: Lower Your CPU’s Performance Core Ratio (Advanced Fix)

If the above steps don’t work, you may need to manually reduce your CPU’s maximum frequency using Intel XTU:

  1. Download Intel XTU (Extreme Tuning Utility) from Intel’s official website
  2. Make sure CPU Under Voltage Protection is enabled in your BIOS (it usually is by default, but check if you’ve overclocked or undervolted before)
  3. Open Intel XTU and find Performance Core Ratio
  4. Reduce it by 2 — for example, if yours is set to 53x, drop it to 51x
  5. This limits your max frequency to around 5.1 GHz (depending on your CPU), which can stabilize UE5 and Oodle calculations

Step 5: Disable XMP on Your RAM

If you’re still crashing:

  • Enter your BIOS and disable XMP (Extreme Memory Profile)
  • Let your RAM run at default JEDEC speeds
  • This can improve overall system stability during shader compilation

Step 6: Try Multiple Launch Attempts

This sounds ridiculous, but it works for some people. Launch the game 5 to 6 times in a row. Out of 10 attempts, expect about 3 or 4 successful launches. Yes, it’s not ideal, but it’s a temporary workaround.

 

Important Tips

  • Update your drivers — especially GPU drivers and chipset drivers
  • Update your BIOS — if you’re on a 13th gen Intel CPU and haven’t updated your BIOS in a while, this is strongly recommended
  • Use Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool — if you’re worried your CPU might actually be faulty, download this tool from Intel to run a stress test. If you get a FAIL result, your CPU may be degrading, and frequency reduction is your only short-term fix
  • This is a known Oodle issue — Oodle version 2.9.14+ includes workarounds for these crash sequences, so the fix is really up to the developers

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