Over the past few days, I’ve been playing Ubisoft’s latest open-world action title, Watch Dogs: Legion. The game itself is an occasionally exciting but mostly middling adventure that features high-tech gadgets, skilled hackers, and tech-savvy lingo. It’s astounding then, that one of the biggest issues I have with Watch Dogs: Legion is its incessant technical issues. While it’s not unexpected to see a few visual glitches in a vast open-world game, the frequency and severity of the bugs in Watch Dogs: Legion are extremely disappointing. Worse of all, despite the handful of patches that I have installed, Watch Dogs: Legion keeps crashing.
Not So High-Tech Performance
As I play through Watch Dogs: Legion for our official review, I’ve been keeping a close eye on how the game runs on my old, first-generation Xbox One. While the game will undoubtedly be smooth and crisp on a brand new Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5, I’ve been pretty underwhelmed with what I’ve seen on older hardware. Textures are oddly sharp and reflective, there’s tons of pop-in, and the frame rate has a tendency to dip whenever the action ramps up. In addition to lackluster technical visual performance, I unfortunately encountered persistent bugs and glitches during my experience as well. These ranged from silly visual glitches involving pedestrians and vehicles to annoying collision detection issues and total game crashes.
These technical woes are an overall detriment to the otherwise enjoyable sandbox-style gameplay, as they impact the experience frequently enough to become an issue. I once had a character get arrested, and therefore deemed unplayable for a set amount of time, because my getaway car was glitched and would not accelerate. Worse yet, there were several times where I was mid-mission and the game completely crashed, forcing me to restart at the previous checkpoint. Few things are more annoying than losing twenty minutes of progress in the blink of an eye. After six or seven game crashes, Watch Dogs: Legion really started to get on my nerves.
How to Fix Watch Dogs: Legion Crashes
Unfortunately, if you’re being plagued by consistent crashes in Watch Dogs: Legion, there’s not much you can do besides sit and wait. Ubisoft has already released a patch that supposedly addresses rampant game crashes on PC and consoles, but on my end, the game keeps crashing. If you have the time, some users online have claimed that a full re-install has helped when Watch Dogs: Legion keeps crashing, but I haven’t found that to be true.
I hope that these issues are fixed by the time the new consoles release, as Watch Dogs: Legion will likely be a popular title during the launch window. While the visual clarity will ultimately depend on your system of choice, some of the bigger issues will remain regardless. These problems are really disheartening, as with some added technical polish, Watch Dogs: Legion would’ve been a much stronger final product. Our full review of Watch Dogs: Legion is coming soon, but for now, we’d recommend waiting a week or two if you are interested in trying it out.
Check out our official review of Watch Dogs: Legion to see what we thought of the final product!
Have you been experiencing glitches and crashes in Watch Dogs: Legion? Let us know how your gameplay experience has been in the comment section below!
47 comments
Am on Xbox One S, I love Watch Dogs Legions! it’s fun! for about the 5-15 mins I can play… then I get out of the blue crashes. I can even be standing on the street and crashes. Really hope they do something soon.
Most of my crashes occurred right in the middle of big missions. Super frustrating. I’m glad you’re enjoying the game otherwise, though!
Same, on Xbox One regular and every 5-15 mins it crashes randomly; reported to Ubisoft forums and hoping for a fix cus it’s a fun game, when it works
Its certainly annoying im currently on #justiceforclaire and everytime i go into the base after 5 mins it crashes i do beleive that this game needed more time before release to get ready.
I had more crashes earlier on in the game, not sure why. Only a few crashes around the mission you’re on.
I have been playing WatchDog since the original. I’ve never had a problem such as this…. 3 crashes in one day. At least one crash everyday since my purchase. Ubisoft needs to give away these games instead of selling them. $60 down the drain. No more Ubisoft for me until they start releasing games that are ready for the market. Thanks for nothing!!!
Yep, during my review sessions, I had multiple crashes. Maybe it is tied to the length of time your system stays on?
Im install patch today its worse IT crash at 5 sec play
It really is very frustrating. I am on an Xbox 1 and it crashes between 1 & 15 minutes (usually closer to 5) every time I play without fail. It doesn’t matter what I am doing in the game, even if I am not moving at all. The only way I can play is by doing the missions super fast because usually I crash about halfway through. I’ve tried everything, including a full reinstall and starting a new game. I hope it gets fixed soon because this is happening to a lot of people (including every single one of my friends who play the game)
Jeeeez, it sounds like your system is getting it way worse than mine. Are you running it on an external drive or the internal memory?
The patch made the crashes way worse on xbox one. I can’t even get 10 minutes of play without a crash. It needs fixed.
just desinstalled the game right now… on 48 minutes 3 crashes…. not to mention texture bugs on agent selection screen…… sure i’m on Xbox one S but still…..
Yikes. I’m interested to see how it performs on Xbox Series X.
Constantly crashes for me as well makes me not even wanna play this game anymore
Constantly crashes for me as well makes me not even wanna play this game anymore.
Updated game started playing and game stops and crashes. Open game back up and it crashes before I can take a step. They have got to fix this and quick
downloaded the patch today and i don’t think it helped any. i still encounter crashes every 15-30 minutes give or take. i enjoy the game, but the constant crashing is getting annoying.
I’m getting crashes too im really hoping they fix this goddamn game soon so angry
Love the game but when I get in the middle of a mission and the game completely freezes and restarts very annoying.
This is my biggest issue. Some of the missions are roughly 20 – 30 minutes, not even including the cutscenes. It’s so frustrating to get halfway through a tough mission and then have to restart the entire thing.
The crash fixing is a lie on Xbox One S at least.
My game was crashing about every 1-2 hours on my Xbox (perhaps more often). But I powered through despite the annoyance the last week.
I am VERY near the end of the game, but after the update now, kid you not, it’s between 5 and 30 seconds for crashes. Restarted several times and has happened 5 times now so I’m done with the game.
The new patch has bricked the Xbox version of the game!
I was really looking forward to completing the game this weekend but it’s completely broken and unplayable.
I don’t understand how you can release a patch that makes the game so much worse and bricks it if I’m being honest, very disappointed and hope it’s fixed soon!
That sucks. Hopefully, they’ll address this during the week. With new systems coming out, it’s not gonna look good.
Same problem here on the xbox one s, it crashes within 2 minuten aftershave launching the game. Sucks all the fun out of it.
Same here on PC. The game looks really nice, the graphics are amazing but the game keeps crashing. It is normal because Ubisoft is the designer and we are used to the fact they every of their new game crashes af during the first month. Hope they are going to patch it and give early players some coins for the wait…
Interesting to hear that it’s still happening on PC. Tsk tsk.
First few days it was absolutely fine, not a single crash. Since then I can only get through 5-15 minutes before the game crashes completely and I have to restart. To say it’s frustrating would be an understatement. Not what I expect for that kind of money.
Yep. About 10-15 minutes of game play then complete crash taking me right back to Xbox home screen. I can go for hours without one or I can have five in one hour. Xbox One S here.
Same here bro games keep crashing every 15 20 mins annoying
I didnt start having crash issues tell I got to the mission called digging up the past now it seems ever 10 to 15 mins it crashes and I have noticed that when I’m in a boat and I’m not driving the boat acts like I’m crashing into something I think the waves of the water are have a collision detection problem and if that’s it that would explain the game crashes as there are a significant amount of boats in the rivers on this game
Interesting theory. I had crashes in a mixture of locations, sometimes within the open world and other times in isolated levels for a mission. Maybe it has to do with the game attempting to load in general?
My son just got this from his grandmother & plays on an XBox One S. On day two it started crashing almost every time – mostly within 5-10 minutes of play. We exchanged the disc & also reinstalled, but it is still crashing & kicking him out of the game. Very annoying
Well I can’t even get to play the game all I have done is the very 1st starting mission with the Bombs and then I get onto Main Street and that as fare as the game will let me get
Ever since the update installed on XBox1, I can’t play more than 5 minutes, without the game crashing … I even uninstalled and then reinstalled, same problem. I had pre-ordered, and been playing since day one, except since the update.
How does a problem so apparent get past testing phase?
Maybe about 5-10 mins? 8 crashes. Now I wasnt on my xbox yesterday so I dont think its tied to the amount of time spent on the xbox but c’mon 8? I’m surprised we’ve been able to actually boot up the game without it freezing on the main menu.
Same here just got the game just messed up we pay full price for these games and this is what we get that’s messed up man I just get maybe 20 seconds and crash I hope that the new assassin’s creed doesn’t do the same
I did test it I can just start the game and stand there but it want crash but if I spawn my car and try to drive for like ten seconds boom crash don’t know why I pay full 60 bucks for these games well this one the only one plus generation zero to it’s just not cool man they need to fix it or give me my money back or something man
I’m stuck on the #justice4claire mission and it keeps crashing! I installed the patch, reinstalled the game and the crashes continues!!
Does anyone have and work around?
I’ve been a fan of the series for years, and I’ve never had technical problems like this until now. You used to get the occasional clipping or missing textures but I have never, ever had a Ubisoft game crash on me once until I started this game. I can only play about twenty minutes before it crashes. After the release got pushed back, you’d expect them to have fixed issues like this. I’d rather have waited a couple more months before release so they could solve all this.
Game crashes every 5 seconds to a minute. Wish I never wasted the money. I’ve played just about every Ubisoft game out there. This will be the last Ubisoft game I ever buy or let any of my family members buy. I’ll buy games from companies that care about quality production from now on instead of a company that clearly only cares about pushing anything out to get my money.. I can drink coasters for a lot less than this game.
Didn’t Bethesda end up with a class action lawsuit against them for the mess of Fallout 76? Ubisoft need to keep that in mind. I can not play WD Legion at all, 5 to 30 seconds & I’m dashboarded or get the buzz of death. My husband has the same on his Xbox too. This is disgraceful. You don’t buy a washing machine only to find it can’t use water & then have the manufacturer either ignore you or tell you to suck it up! $60, or more if you bought another edition & what have we got? Gamers don’t put up with this rubbish anymore. Ubisoft’s reputation is already on thin ice, they need to fix it & fix it fast.
Not sure if getting past mission 404 made the game unplayable or the patch as for me it was during the same timeframe. Since the start of playing the game on my Xbox one it would crash at least 1-2 times per session. Now it is unplayable as it is crashing within 5 minutes of play and continues to crash again when restarted. Ubisoft should put a “stop sale” on the Xbox one version until it is 100% fixed. It would not help those of us who have already bought it, but to continue selling a broken product is Unacceptable.
After about 15 minutes of play it crash out. Other than that I have enjoyed it but would like to play without the crashing.
My game crashed 7 times yesterday on PS4. Usually happens when viewing my recruits page. I also have one character who is “unavailable” but the game gives no explanation as to why. Normally it says critically injured or arrested or whatever it says for them being kidnapped. The game crashed are the worst though. I dont mind random glitches in the game, but game crashes are no bueno.
Bought the game on the day of release for Xbox One. Started playing a few hours every day, in which the game crashed twice a day on average. After a week the rate increased to. once every hour, and now I can play 15 minutes if I’m lucky. This is obviously very disappointing. I payed decent money for a game I was highly anticipating and ended up with some kind of beta-affair. Shame on you Ubisoft!
Same for me, it crashes probably once an hour during gameplay. Feel like I’ve wasted my money as I’ve lost the urge to keep trying at this point.
I’ve experienced constant crashes on Xbox one, game will only let me play for like 20 minutes before game freezes then crashes, ubisoft better fix this soon, I went to there website and complained but there site is **** to navigate