NBA 2K25 crashing on PC: Possible fixes explored

NBA 2K25's PC players are facing frequent crashes when trying to load the game or even mid-game. These issues have frustrated the gaming community who were excited to play the latest iteration of the biggest basketball simulation game. Many of them pre-ordered the game weeks ago; these sudden issues are ruining their experience and lowering their excitement.

However, these issues are only limited to the game's PC version. 2K brought the New-Gen version to the platform, which could be a reason behind these ͏crashing ͏issues. The game possibly hasn't been optimized as well for the PC͏ ͏as it has been for the co͏nsoles.

We explore the ͏possible fixes fo͏r͏ NBA 2K25 crashing on PC and try͏ to ͏help you get back on the court.

Note: The fixes mentioned herein are not guaranteed to work for every user.

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Crashing issues in the PC version of NBA 2K25

2K25 City Event Center (Image via 2K)

Players have reported a variety of issues, including

• Crashing during the first loading screen.
• Freezing when trying to load MyCareer or MyGM mode.
• Crashes while downloading shaders.
• Repeated crashes even after reinstalling the game.

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Possible fixes for NBA 2K25 crashes

If you’re dealing with crashing or performance issues in NBA 2K25, here are some potential solutions to try while awaiting an official word from 2K:

1) Verify game files

One of the most common troubleshooting methods for PC games is to verify your game files through Steam. This process checks for any missing or corrupted files that could be causing crashes. To do this, follow these steps:

• Open Steam.
• Navigate to your Library.
• Right-click on NBA 2K25 and select Properties.
• Go to the Installed Files tab and click on Verify integrity of game files. Steam will scan your game files and replace any that are corrupted or missing.

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2) Reinstall the game

This is the most tedious step out of all the possible fixes. If you believe the game was downloaded successfully, you can skip this step. The community believes that this step isn't the fix because the problem isn't in the download files but an issue at the developer's end. However, you can still try this fix if you have a very fast internet connection.

• Uninstall the game from Steam.
• Restart your computer.
• Reinstall NBA 2K25 from Steam.

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3) Disable overlays

Many PC players use overlays f͏rom͏ software like St͏eam, D͏iscord, or NVIDIA GeFo͏rce Experie͏nce͏ to capture ͏gameplay or chat with fri͏ends͏. ͏However, ͏these ͏overlays can sometimes interfere with game perfo͏rmance. Try disabling͏ o͏verlays and ͏see i͏f it resolv͏es t͏he c͏r͏ashing issue͏:

• In Steam, go to Settings > In-Game and uncheck Enable the Steam Overlay.
• In Discord, go to User Settings > Overlay and toggle Enable in-game overlay off.
• For NVIDIA GeForce Experience, open the app and disable the in-game overlay under Settings.

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4) Update graphics drivers

Outdated graphics drivers are a common culprit for game crashes. This is a new game, so it's likely that NVIDIA and AMD have yet to release a driver update optimized for the game. Just be on the lookout for possible GPU driver updates:

• For NVIDIA users, head to the NVIDIA website to download the latest drivers.
• For AMD users, visit the AMD drivers page to get the newest updates.

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2K25 the City courts (Image via 2K)

5) Lower in-game settings

If you’re still experiencing crashes or frame drops, lowering your in-game settings could help alleviate the strain on your system. Despite your PC being very high-end, an unoptimized game will stutter on any PC. So, try lowering the following settings until 2K comes up with a patch to fix things:

• Resolution: Reduce your game’s resolution to ease the load on your GPU.
• Graphics Quality: Switch from Ultra/High to Medium or Low.
• V-Sync: Disabling V-Sync may help reduce stuttering or crashes in some cases.

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6) Re-download shaders

Shader issues have been a significant source of problems for many players. NBA 2K25 prompts players to download shaders each time they boot up the game, but crashes often occur during this process. A temporary fix could be to delete the shader cache manually:

• Navigate to your Steam folder.
• Go to steamapps> common > NBA 2K25 > shader_cache.
• Delete the folder contents and restart the game.

This forces the game to re-download the shaders upon launching. While this isn’t a permanent fix, it may help some players bypass the initial crash.

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While these solutions may work for some, many players are still reporting issues with NBA 2K25. As of now, there is no update from 2K's end addressing these issues. An official word and an official fix are yet to be released for the game. The best possible course of action now is to wait for 2K to respond if these workarounds do not fix your issue.