High on Life 2 Keeps Crashing? Crash Fix, Softlock & FPS Drop Solutions (PC, PS5, Xbox)

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 Last Updated: February 17, 2026

If High on Life 2 keeps crashing, freezing during missions, or softlocking your progress, you’re not alone. During launch week, players across PC, PS5, and Xbox have reported:

  • Startup crashes

  • Full system hangs (especially on newer GPUs)

  • Stuttering tied to shader compilation

  • Alt-Tab instant crashes in fullscreen

  • Mission softlocks — particularly during the “Murder Mystery” cruise ship sequence

This updated guide includes community-discovered emergency fixes alongside standard troubleshooting steps — so you can get back to playing without waiting for the next patch.

🚀 High on Life 2 Fast Fixes (February 2026)

If you just want the quickest solutions:

  • Stuck on the Cruise Ship slide? Disable DLSS/FSR + set graphics to LOW before the sequence.

  • Hard crashes on RTX 5070/5080/5090? Update drivers and disable G-Sync when using DLSS Frame Generation.

  • Game crashes when Alt-Tabbing? Switch to Borderless Windowed mode immediately.

  • Micro-stutter every few seconds? Delete shader cache and stay still for 2 minutes after first launch.

  • Stutter when guns talk? Disable Gatlian Chatter in Audio Settings.

Now let’s break everything down step-by-step.

Why Does High on Life 2 Keep Crashing?

Most launch-week crashes fall into one of these categories:

  • Outdated GPU drivers

  • Shader compilation spikes (Unreal Engine 5 behavior)

  • Fullscreen optimization conflicts

  • DLSS / Frame Generation instability

  • Corrupted game files

  • VRAM overload

  • Mission scripting bugs (softlocks)

The good news: most of these are fixable without reinstalling Windows or replacing hardware.

Fix High on Life 2 Crashes (PC, PS5, Xbox)

High on Life 2 Crash Fix (PC)

Follow these in order.

🔧 1. Switch to Borderless Windowed (Move This to the Top)

Many players report instant crashes when Alt-Tabbing or during the intro cinematic while using Exclusive Fullscreen.

Fix:

  • Open Settings → Graphics

  • Change Display Mode to Borderless Windowed

If you can’t access the menu:

  • Edit your config file manually

  • Change FullscreenMode to Borderless

For many users, this alone stops startup and intro crashes.

🔧 2. Update GPU Drivers (Especially RTX 50-Series Users)

If you’re using RTX 5070 / 5080 / 5090:

  • Install the latest NVIDIA Game Ready Driver.

  • If using DLSS Frame Generation, disable G-Sync temporarily.

  • Test without Frame Generation enabled.

Community reports suggest a conflict between:

  • G-Sync

  • DLSS 4 Frame Generation

  • Early Blackwell drivers

This can cause hard system hangs or full PC reboots, not just game crashes.

🔧 3. Verify Game Files

Corrupted files can cause:

  • Startup crashes

  • Mission bugs

  • Random freezing

Steam → Library → Right-click → Properties → Verify Integrity

🔧 4. Delete Shader Cache (Critical for Stutter & 1 FPS Bug)

If your game:

  • Drops to 1 FPS

  • Freezes every few seconds

  • Stutters constantly

Delete the shader cache folder in:

C:\Users[YourName]\AppData\Local\

Then:

  1. Relaunch the game

  2. Stay still in the first area for 2 minutes

  3. Let shaders compile fully

High on Life 2 appears to struggle with JIT (Just-In-Time) shader compilation during gameplay.

Letting shaders finish before combat reduces long-term stutter.

🔧 5. Disable Overlays

Disable:

  • Steam Overlay

  • Discord Overlay

  • GeForce Experience

  • MSI Afterburner

Overlay conflicts are common in Unreal Engine 5 launches.

🔧 6. Increase Virtual Memory

If crashing during heavy combat:

  • Set page file size to 1.5x your RAM minimum

  • Restart PC

Prevents memory exhaustion crashes.

🔥 Mission Emergency Fix: Murder Mystery Cruise Ship Softlock

One of the most searched launch-week issues is the Pinkstock Cruise Ship softlock during the “escape slide” sequence.

Players report:

  • Infinite death loops

  • Falling through the floor

  • Assets not loading properly

✅ Community Workaround

Before starting the slide:

  1. Disable DLSS or FSR completely

  2. Set graphics preset to LOW

  3. Start the slide

  4. Immediately pause the game for 5 seconds

  5. Resume after assets finish loading

This appears to give Unreal Engine 5 time to stream assets properly, preventing the “fall-through-map” crash.

After completing the mission, you can restore your normal graphics settings.

Fix High on Life 2 Freezing, Stuttering & FPS Drops

Even high-end PCs are experiencing launch stutter.

🎮 Optimize These Settings First

Lower:

  • Shadows → Medium

  • Post Processing → Medium

  • Effects → Medium

Turn Off:

  • Motion Blur

  • Film Grain

Enable:

  • DLSS (NVIDIA)

  • FSR (AMD)

Cap FPS to:

  • 60 (mid-range GPUs)

  • 120 (high-end GPUs)

Uncapped FPS increases instability.

🔇 Disable Gatlian Chatter (Hidden Stutter Fix)

Some players report stutter spikes when Gatlians begin dialogue.

This appears to be audio-triggered hitching.

Fix:

  • Go to Audio Settings

  • Lower or disable Gatlian Chatter

This reduces CPU spikes caused by dialogue triggers during combat.

🧠 Add r.PSOPrecaching=1 (Advanced Fix)

In your GameUserSettings.ini, add:

r.PSOPrecaching=1

This forces better shader pipeline caching behavior and may reduce traversal stutter.

High on Life 2 Not Launching Fix

If the game won’t open:

  • Install Visual C++ Redistributables

  • Update Windows

  • Reinstall DirectX

  • Disable antivirus temporarily

  • Reinstall game (last resort)

High on Life 2 Softlock & Mission Bug Fix

If stuck in any mission:

  1. Reload last checkpoint

  2. Restart mission

  3. Avoid skipping dialogue

  4. Change difficulty temporarily

  5. Restart entire game client

If fully blocked:

  • Verify files

  • Reinstall

Most mission scripting bugs resolve after a restart.

PS5 Crash Fix

  • Restart console

  • Install latest system update

  • Clear cache (Safe Mode)

  • Rebuild database

  • Reinstall game

Xbox Crash Fix

  • Power cycle console (hold button 10 seconds)

  • Check for game updates

  • Clear local saved data

  • Reinstall game

FAQ – High on Life 2 Crash & Bug Fix

Why does High on Life 2 keep crashing on PC?

Most crashes are caused by driver instability, shader compilation issues, fullscreen conflicts, or DLSS Frame Generation instability.

Updating drivers and switching to borderless mode fixes many cases.

How do I fix the Murder Mystery cruise ship softlock?

Disable DLSS/FSR, set graphics to Low, and pause briefly at the start of the slide to allow assets to load properly.

Why is my game stuck at 1 FPS?

This is likely a shader compilation issue.

Delete shader cache and stay idle for 2 minutes after first launch to stabilize performance.

Why does the game crash when I Alt-Tab?

Exclusive Fullscreen appears unstable during launch week. Switch to Borderless Windowed mode.

Does disabling G-Sync help?

Some RTX 50-series users report improved stability when disabling G-Sync while using DLSS Frame Generation.

Final Thoughts

Launch week for High on Life 2 has brought the usual mix of:

  • Shader compilation stutter

  • GPU driver instability

  • Fullscreen conflicts

  • Mission scripting bugs

The fastest path to stability right now:

  1. Switch to Borderless

  2. Update GPU drivers

  3. Delete shader cache

  4. Disable DLSS temporarily for problematic missions

  5. Let shaders compile fully

As patches roll out, stability should improve — but until then, these are the most effective working fixes discovered by the community.

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