Grinding Gear Games has delivered a significant technical fix for two of the most persistent problems affecting Path of Exile 2 since early access: lengthy shader compilation stuttering and the infamous "Device Removed" crashes. The solutions come through a combination of game-side optimizations and a new NVIDIA Game Ready driver.
The issues primarily impacted players using NVIDIA graphics cards on drivers newer than version 560. After extended investigation alongside NVIDIA, GGG identified problems tied to how the game handled shader compilation and an internal limit known as shader heap size. Increasing that value on NVIDIA’s side, along with other adjustments, dramatically reduced the crash rate.
What Players Need to Do
To receive the fixes, players must update to NVIDIA driver 610.88 (or newer). A partial fix had already begun rolling out automatically for users on driver 610.47 about a week earlier, but 610.88 contains the complete solution.
After updating the driver or downloading the latest Path of Exile 2 patch, the game will need time to rebuild its shader cache. This means loading times will be longer than usual while the game recompiles shaders for different areas, skills, and effects. GGG has described this as a one-time process. Once the cache is rebuilt through normal play, performance should stabilize at a noticeably better level than before.
Why the Problems Were So Widespread
Shader compilation has been a recurring complaint since Path of Exile 2 entered early access. Players frequently reported hitching, stuttering, or long freezes when entering new zones or encountering unfamiliar effects for the first time. In more severe cases, the game would crash with a “Device Removed” error, forcibly closing the application.
These problems were especially frustrating because they could reappear even after players manually cleared shader caches or switched between DirectX and Vulkan. The collaboration with NVIDIA allowed both teams to isolate driver-level behavior that was interacting poorly with the game’s rendering pipeline.
What to Expect After Updating
- Longer loading screens and hitching during the initial shader rebuild period
- Gradual improvement as more shaders are compiled through regular play
- Significantly fewer “Device Removed” crashes for affected NVIDIA users
- Smoother overall performance once the cache is fully populated
GGG has asked players who continue to experience shader problems or Device Removed crashes after updating both the game and their graphics driver to submit detailed bug reports with system information so the team can investigate any remaining edge cases.
The fix arrives at an important time for Path of Exile 2, as the game continues to receive major content updates and moves closer to its full release. For many players, the combination of shader stuttering and random crashes ranked among the biggest technical barriers to long mapping sessions. Clearing those issues should make the current early access experience considerably more stable.
Players on NVIDIA hardware are strongly encouraged to update to driver 610.88 as soon as possible and then spend some time moving through different content so the shader cache can rebuild properly. After that initial period, the game should feel substantially smoother than it has for much of early access.
What other problems do you think they need to fix for Path of Exile 2? Let us know what games you are playing in the comments below!