On an AMD RX 6800 XT GPU, starting with driver version 25.3.1, one of our levels started crashing any time it was opened. After testing individual project setting changes, I figured out it was due to Virtual Shadow Maps being enabled with Hardware Ray Tracing support. If hardware ray tracing is turned off, the crash does not occur. If hardware ray tracing is used, but the shadow method is changed to Cascade Shadowmaps, the crash does not occur.
I turned on -d3ddebug, and there was no additional information that signaled an issue wth D3D12 calls. The crash is reported as a GPU hang. I extended the TDR and that did not fix the issue either. I attached Radeons developer tools, and that made the crash go away but new D3D12 validation errors pop up around heaps.
Reverting the driver to 25.2.1 made the crash go away.
I am working on putting together an equivalent test using an unmodified version of UE 5.5.4.
This bug was also reproducible on a RX 6900 XT with the same driver version.
Hello, I was also experiencing issues with my Sapphire Radeon 6900 XT. No games based on Unreal Engine 5.5 would launch; they would crash during shader compilation—sometimes before, sometimes during, and sometimes after, depending on the specific game. I tested various AMD drivers—ranging from 2024 versions up to the latest one from 2026, including the beta—but the problem persisted across all of them. After several attempts, I managed to fix it by disabling ray tracing in the games' `engine.ini` files. This allowed all of them to launch, and I was able to play for hours without any crashes. The titles in question include *Resident Evil 9*, *Silent Hill: Townfall*, *The Sinking City 2*, and *Gears of War: E-Day*. I initially thought the issue was limited to Unreal Engine 5, but then I tested *The Witcher 3 Remastered (2026)*—which isn't based on Unreal—and encountered the same problem. Disabling ray tracing in that game's `settings.ini` file allowed it to launch and run stably.